Singtel's HungryGoWhere takes its last meal

FOOD and restaurant reviews portal HungryGoWhere is set to shutter on July 11, the Z74 subsidiary announced on its website.

In a statement posted on its home page, HungryGoWhere said: "It has been an amazing 15 years, and we're really proud to have served you. Thanks for supporting us, we'll miss you."

The closure of HungryGoWhere comes as Singtel has been undergoing a strategic review of its digital units digital businesses Amobee and Trustwave. It has also announced a strategic reset that includes unlocking the value of its infrastructure asset portfolio, comprising towers, satellites, subsea cables and data centres.

The Business Times has reached out to Singtel for comment on the matter, including whether staff will be retrenched.

One of Singapore's earliest startups, HungryGoWhere was acquired by Singtel in 2012 for S$12 million. Its three co-founders built the company at a time when venture capital funding was almost non-existent and a third of restaurants they approached did not even have email.

Co-founder Dennis Goh told BT that the restaurant reviews space is much more crowded today than it was at the time of the acquisition. The ways that people consume digital content have also evolved and become more "decentralised".

"If I asked you today about where you find your food, some people would say Instagram, some would say Facebook, and others might bring up Tripadvisor or Google Maps. Back in 2008, you would've easily said HungryGoWhere," said Mr Goh, who stayed on for about two years at the company after the Singtel acquisition.

The emergence of short viral videos and influencers have also changed the way that content is delivered to consumers. And with the boom in Singapore's startup ecosystem, players such as Chope and ShopBack have muscled in aggressively into the restaurant deals space.

"You can sense that there is a changing of an era. Everything that worked in the early days of Singapore might not necessarily work today," said Mr Goh.

HungryGoWhere on Tuesday said that to thank merchants for their support, it will not charge any fees for June and July. Merchants have up to July 11 to save their dining reservations data, after which the information will no longer be accessible.

Customers can still make or edit reservations up till July 11, and should reconfirm their bookings with restaurants if their reservation falls after that date.

The HungryRewards programme will be discontinued on June 30, and users can transfer accumulated HungryDollars (Hungry$) to Singtel Dash cash credits by that date.

According to a past announcement by Singtel in 2012, HungryGoWhere's operations were then to be merged with inSing.com, a lifestyle and local search site that was also a Singtel subsidiary.

"The combination of these top lifestyle sites will change the game by creating an audience of two million customers - the largest food and lifestyle audience in Singapore," Singtel had said in its 2012 press release announcing the acquisition.

Allen Lew, then the CEO of Group Digital Life at Singtel, had said in the release: "A cornerstone of Singtel's growth strategy is to build digital solutions that help consumers in their daily lives ... Possessing the local knowledge and content is critical as it allows us to compete effectively in these areas."

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