Looks like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar and other OTT players have new competition as food delivery unicorn Zomato announced its entry forayed into web streaming.





The startup will launch 18 original shows over the next three months, starting Monday, September 16. These shows will be available under a new “Videos” tab in the Zomato app.





All Zomato Original shows are around food across categories such as comedy, reality, fiction, advice, celebrity interviews will explore food in unique, engaging and entertaining videos.





The videos will be categorised by genre, letting users watch three to 15-minute videos across shows, recipes, and Sneak Peek restaurant stories.





"The Zomato video experience will launch with 2,000+ videos that include Zomato Originals, which will be available to stream in India, while Sneak Peek and recipe videos can be accessed anywhere in the world," the company said in a statement.





"We are constantly looking for new ways to engage our users around food. Most of our users visit our app several times a week. This presents us with an opportunity to further delight our users using Zomato Originals” said Deepinder Goyal, CEO and Founder, Zomato.









Some these shows include Food and You with Sanjeev Kapoor, Banake Dikha with Sumukhi Suresh, Grandmaster Chef with Sahil Shah, Starry meals with Janice, Race Against the App, Dude, where’s the food with Jordindian, amongst others. All episodes are bite-sized, between three and 15 minutes.





"They are primarily shot in a vertical frame, which is ideal for app-based mobile viewing. The playlists will help you get started and binge your way through," added Zomato.





“We combined all things food with binge-worthy genres and came up with a diverse slate of shows,” added, Durga Raghunath, Senior Vice President, Growth, Zomato, “With shows in both Hindi and English, we hope every corner of India will tune in to Zomato to hone their taste buds.”





The startup claims to have more than 70 million monthly active users who search for restaurants and dining out options along with 1.4 million premium Gold subscribers. The online ordering service is now in 500+ Indian cities serving more than 1.3 million orders a day.









(Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta)