On 30 September, DoorDash opened its first office in India. This talent hub is located in Hyderabad city. Telangana Minister D Sridhar Babu inaugurated the facility. The company starts with 500 professionals initially, PTI reported.
Plans are in place to scale headcount to over 3,000. This expansion should happen within the next couple of years.
DoorDash officials Ravi Inukonda and Jenna Kohnke also attended the event. Sai Krishna, IT Adviser to the Telangana government, also joined.
Jenna Kohnke called this an important company milestone. According to her, it significantly expands DoorDash’s global operations network.
The Hyderabad hub will house two main teams. These include Customer Experience and Integrity (CXI), plus Administrative teams. This becomes DoorDash’s third global CXI service centre.
The hub will support DoorDash’s worldwide operations. It will help serve consumers, merchants and delivery partners globally.
Team members will support platforms serving 56 million monthly users. This covers regions with a combined population of over 1 billion.
Minister Sridhar Babu called this a strong validation for Hyderabad. He said the city had become a global talent hub. DoorDash currently operates in more than 40 countries. This makes it a valuable addition to Hyderabad’s ecosystem.
“As one of the world’s leading local commerce platforms, with operations across 40-plus countries, DoorDash is a strong addition to Hyderabad’s growing hyperlocal digital commerce ecosystem,” PTI quoted the minister as saying.
“Its Hyderabad hub is expected to grow to a 3,000-plus strong headcount, bringing global capabilities in hyperlocal commerce, customer experience, technology and operations to Hyderabad,” he said.
What is DoorDash?
DoorDash works similarly to Zomato and in India. All three connect local restaurants directly with online customers. They use gig-economy delivery drivers to fulfil orders. In 2013, the company was founded by four Stanford University students.
Swiggy and Zomato reportedly took inspiration from DoorDash. They followed the California company’s shift toward full logistics and subscriptions. Rapid grocery delivery ideas also came from DoorDash’s model.
Soon after its incorporation, the company raised $2.4 million. It started with delivering food from 70 restaurants in Mountain View and Palo Alto for $6. The capital was used to grow the operations and engineering teams.
“We view ourselves as a logistics company. Our goal is to deliver faster than any service out there,” co-founder Andy Fang told TechCrunch at that time.
Unlike Indian platforms, DoorDash operates mainly outside India, though. It serves the North America, Europe and Oceania regions.
This includes the US, Canada and Mexico. It also covers Australia, New Zealand and parts of Europe. DoorDash also operates through Wolt and Deliveroo brands internationally. Hyderabad marks the company’s entry to India.