Ownly’s market share below 0.1% in Bengaluru, cash burn at ₹100 per order, says Elara Securities

Rapido’s Ownly, launched to tap into the fast-growing food delivery sector, is struggling with several early-stage operational issues. 

According to a report by Elara Securities, Rapido’s Ownly has onboarded only about 5-6% of restaurants in its operating area in Bengaluru and holds less than 0.1% market share in volume terms. With a cash burn estimated at ₹100 per order, scaling up will be capital-intensive. The report estimates that achieving a 5% market share across India could result in an annual cash burn of around ₹8 billion, which may increase by 50% if Ownly continues to operate at a lower scale.

Moreover, the app is experiencing delays in OTP verification, location-related issues, and a subpar post-login experience, particularly on Android devices. 

“The onboarding experience is critical, and without a seamless app interface, consumer adoption is bound to be slow,” says Karan Taurani, EVP at Elara Securities.

These technical bottlenecks, coupled with limited restaurant coverage —most notably the absence of large QSR (Quick Service Restaurant) chains —are restricting Ownly’s ability to compete effectively against established players like Swiggy and Zomato.

Taurani adds that Ownly must accelerate its tech development and expand restaurant partnerships to gain traction.

Limitations 

What this really means is that replicating Rapido’s success in ride-hailing, driven by innovative pricing and subscription models, may not translate easily into the food delivery space. In ride-hailing, Rapido disrupted the market by offering attractive subscription plans and lower commissions, capitalising on cab drivers’ dissatisfaction with other players. However, restaurants in food delivery retain pricing flexibility, which allows them to mark up menus to offset higher commissions.

“The dynamics between platform and supply side are fundamentally different in food delivery,” Taurani explains. “Restaurants can adjust menu prices, which means that the pressure of commission hikes doesn’t hit them directly. This makes ride-hailing style disruption far more complicated.”

So, making a dent in the near term could take time as the model is in its early days of evolution.

Pricing advantage for standalone

On the pricing front, Ownly follows a transparent model, charging customers only a ~5% tax over the item price. While Ownly struggles to compete with incumbents on large QSR chains, where aggressive discounting is common, it offers a clear advantage when ordering from standalone restaurants. The median price for standalone restaurant orders on Ownly is approximately 28% lower than those on Swiggy or Zomato, even after factoring in delivery fee waivers available under membership plans.

For instance, a typical order from Mangaluru Kitchen costs a customer ₹210 on Ownly, compared with ₹256 on Swiggy and ₹246 on Zomato.

“It's ONDC's success in ride-hailing signals execution potential for Ownly in food delivery,” says Taurani, but he adds, “Given a muted start and tech gaps, emerging as a meaningful challenger in food delivery will be a long haul.”

Elara has a Buy on Eternal with TP of ₹ 340 and Accumulate on Swiggy with a TP of ₹ 450 per share.