Chope, a platform for making restaurant reservations, announced that is has formed a partnership with China’s lifestyle services provider Meituan-Dianping. Chope will be integrated into Meituan’s app, making it easier for Chinese users to seek out local dining options when they visit locations where Chope operates, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Bali, Jakarta, Bangkok, and Phuket.
The Singapore-headquartered company will gain access to Meituan’s 290 million users—or at least those among them who visit cities where restaurants have partnered up with Chope.
This is Meituan’s first business venture outside of China. Just as Alibaba has found partners in e-commerce platforms Lazada and Tokopedia, and Tencent has made investments for a 34% stake in Singapore-based gaming app and internet company SEA, Meituan is also forming an alliance with a local firm while stepping abroad.
Since going public in Hong Kong, Meituan’s share value has been sliding, and still hasn’t recovered to attain its IPO price. The company has been seeking ways to stem its losses. Even so, it is considered to be one of the most innovative companies in Asia because it has fundamentally changed the consumption patterns of a sizable population.
The Singapore-headquartered restaurant platform Chope was founded in 2011 by Ariff Ziaudeen. It has since seen rapid growth and is now serving more than 35 million diners across eight cities. Chope’s listings include over 4,000 restaurants.
Editor: Brady Ng