New Delhi: Zomato Founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal in May praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for providing ample opportunities to small-town entrepreneurs like him, as the online food delivery platform, coupled with quick commerce delivery platform Blinkit, scaled new highs in the last couple of years.

In a post on X, Goyal thanked PM Modi for his kind words. “This does certainly motivate us to work harder and do better,” the Zomato CEO posted. The Prime Minister said that Goyal’s journey is truly inspiring which motivates “countless youngsters to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams”.

Goyal attended ‘Vishesh Sampark Abhiyan’ event in the national capital in presence of Union Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and Rajeev Chandrashekhar, along with fellow startup founders.

A small-town boy from Punjab, Goyal also faced questions about his ability to succeed in the startup ecosystem. “When I told my father about starting Zomato, he said, ‘Janta hai tera baap kaun hai?’ which basically meant ‘You can’t do a startup’,” Goyal had recalled.

Today, Zomato has a market capitalization of about $20 billion, with Blinkit contributing $13 billion to Zomato’s value. In the January-March quarter of FY24, Zomato registered a profit of Rs 175 crore -- from a loss of Rs 188 crore in the same period last year. Zomato aims to reach 1,000 Blinkit stores by the end of FY25.