Chope gobbles MakanLuar to increase market share

The Chope Group has acquired MakanLuar, its Indonesian equivalent.The deal extends Chope’s reach to Jakarta, Bali and Bandung which now spans eight cities and 1,300 clients. This comes just eight months after Chope’s announcement of SG$11 million worth of funds raised led by NSI Ventures.MakanLuar’s name (Indonesian for ‘eating out’) will be kept for the moment, but the eventual aim of both parties is to create a seamless experience across all eight cities. Founders Kunal Narang and Hiro Mohinani will continue helming the ship, now equipped with significant resources from Chope to accelerate MakanLuar’s growth.“MakanLuar already had impressive traction, and we saw obvious opportunities to further increase their aggression with our technology, marketing, and support,” said Arrif Ziaudeen, CEO of Chope.Since its launch in 2013, MakanLuar has been a hit in congestion-prone Jakarta where patrons want a guaranteed table before making journeys. Its success was echoed in Bali. It has since sat nearly 100,000 diners in 2015.“We've had an incredible journey, so far, as a localised service with a loyal following and we look forward to offering restaurants in Indonesia our new reach to Chope's extensive user base in Asia," said Narang.The  duo  is confident  in  bringing  hassle-free  online  bookings to  a  larger portion of Indonesia’s 250 million people, an assurance  that  is  shared  by  NSI  Ventures.“NSI is seeing strong growth from its Indonesian portfolio as millions of consumers embrace locally - suited applications; building upon Makanluar's local expertise and  layering in  Chope's own  product features gives it the  opportunity  to  be  the  leader in  the  fast-­‐ developing  Indonesian  dining  discovery  and  reservation space,” said Shane Chesson, managing partner of NSI Ventures.