Google launches Areo, an app for food delivery and home services

Google has ventured into the restaurant delivery and home services businesses with the launch of its new app Areo. It quietly launched the app on play store on April 12. The app is live in Bangalore and Mumbai and aims to bring city’s top food and home services right to customer’s door. Users can order meals from local restaurants or schedule appointments with nearby service professionals, including electricians, painters, cleaners, plumbers, etc.

Google will not undertake delivery of these services but only act as a middleman as it has partnered with multiple companies such as Box8, Freshmenu and Faasos for food delivery and UrbanClap and Zimmber for home services. It also allows users to pay through the app. For payment services, it has partnered with TimesofMoney’s DirecPay.

It is not the first time that Google has launched hyperlocal services. It also operates a rapid-delivery service Google Express in US, which delivers items from stores like Costco, Walgreens, Whole Foods and many others. Facebook also launched a hyperlocal service in India last year. Variety of services including plumbing, arts, marketing, automotive, personal care, etc. were listed at facebook.com/services.

Hyperlocal services and food tech startups were the most in-demand startups in the last 3-4 years and raised close to US$200 million. However, due to high cash burn and low profitability, a lot of these startups have folded up. As this market consolidates, it will be interesting to see how this Areo experiment works out for Google.