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Snoonu’s appetite for video
Did I have Qatar-born Snoonu pegged to be the food-delivery platform to finally usher in the TikTokification of food delivery? I can’t say I did, but hey, I’m here for it.
Snoonu, itself majority-acquired by Jahez this time last year for just shy of a quarter of a billion dollars, has acquired US food-discovery platform and “TikTok meets DoorDash” startup, YC-backed BiteSight.
I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time over the past few months writing about food-delivery and super-app economics, but video discovery, especially for delivery, has not been something even remotely on my radar, truth be told.
By way of context, BiteSight was founded back in 2023 by UT Austin alumni Lucious McDaniel IV and Zac Schulwolf. The app let users scroll through videos of nearby dishes, see friends’ recommendations and order directly, with delivery outsourced to third parties.
Initially focused on NYC and San Francisco, it raised $1.5 million from YC, SurgePoint Capital and angels.
Your best chance of having come across it was a viral TikTok video which subsequently catapulted the startup up the app charts. BiteSight eventually reported over 150,000 US downloads, peaking at No. 2 in the Food & Drink category, with a waitlist in excess of 100,000.
@realeater.flou It’s called BiteSight and it’s really fun I promise :) #foodelivery #nyc #founder
Two questions are of most interest to me here:
Why have Hamad Al Hajri and Snoonu elected to acquire what is, not to be disparaging, in essence a product feature or function, as opposed to just copying and building it in-house?
Is there any evidence of video-led food discovery actually contributing to meaningful uplift in conversions, retention or retail-media revenue?…
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