As per the report in ET, Roadrunnr (Logistics player) and Tinyowl(online food ordering platform) are in early stages talks to merge in an all-stock deal. Venture funds including Sequoia Capital and Nexus Venture Partners invested in both the startups.
At present, both companies have cash to sustain operations for at least 10 months. The talks under way for a few months now, are still at a preliminary stage the sources said. If talks prove successful, the combined entity could explore several options including launching food ordering and delivery services and may also expand to categories beyond food like the launch of bike taxis, the sources said.
If the deal does goes through, the combined entity may look at raising fresh funding of about $40 million, the person said.
A successful deal will also mark the first major consolidation in the Internet space over the last two years – after the Flipkart-Myntra acquisition – in which common shareholders played a part.
About Tinyowl and Roadrunnr-
Bengaluru-based Roadrunnr was founded in February by former Flipkart employees Kumar and Arpit Dave, focusing on business-to-business deliveries. It makes use of an on-demand model to partner with delivery boys and manage lean and peak demand, and charges businesses a flat rate per delivery.
TinyOwl was founded in 2014 by IIT-Bombay graduates Mandad, Gaurav Choudhary, Saurabh Goyal, Shikhar Paliwal and Tanuj Khandelwal. In October, Tiny Owl raised Rs 50 crore from existing investors Sequoia Capital, Nexus Venture Partners and Matrix Partners.