Deepinder Goyal to invest in aircraft startup launched by ex-Zomato COO

Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal has partnered with former Zomato chief operating officer Surobhi Das to launch an aviation startup LAT Aerospace.

LAT Aerospace, which is currently in stealth mode, plans to design and develop low-cost 12 to 24-seater STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) aircraft to connect cities and towns.

Goyal is reportedly looking to invest $20 million in the aerospace startup.

“While building Zomato and traveling extensively, Deepinder Goyal and I often discussed how regional aviation should be effortless, affordable, and accessible. That’s what we’re now building at LAT,” Das said in a post on LinkedIn.

“Our aircraft will take off and land from ultra-compact “air-stops”—as small as a parking lot. Imagine dozens of air-stops across major cities, seamlessly linking them to hundreds of smaller cities without baggage belts, security bottlenecks, or expensive airport infrastructure—because regional air travel doesn’t need them,” Das said.

“We’re based in Delhi NCR and assembling a world-class team of engineers, designers, and builders to take on the toughest challenges in aircraft design, aerodynamics, materials & composites, hybrid propulsion systems, and turbo-machinery,” she added.

Sharing Das’ post, Goyal said, “Excited to bring a decade old idea to life. “Folks – Surobhi is looking for the founding engineering team for LAT, in the fields of aircraft design, aerodynamics, materials & composites, hybrid propulsion systems, and turbo-machinery,” Goyal wrote on LinkedIn.

In a separate development, Goyal said Zomato customers are now “rescuing” 75% of eligible cancelled orders and this number is steadily increasing. “At the current rate, we are saving over 150,000 meals in a month,” he said.

Zomato doesn't encourage order cancellation, because it leads to a tremendous amount of food wastage. Inspite of stringent policies, and and a no-refund policy for cancellations, more than 4 lakh perfectly good orders get cancelled on Zomato, for various reasons by customers.

To deal with this, Goyal announced Food Rescue in November last year. Under this programme, cancelled orders pop up for nearby customers, who can grab them at a cheaper price, in their original “untampered packaging”, and receive them in just minutes.

“On average, these orders are claimed within 2 minutes and delivered in under 9 minutes,” said Goyal.