On Tuesday (May 11), Ekam Panesar delivered.
The 19-year-old Surrey entrepreneur officially launched Dishpal, his food/grocery delivery app, following a beta-test phase and plenty of behind-the-scenes work over the past couple of years.
A Panorama Ridge-area resident, Panesar began creating Dishpal while studying at North Delta’s Seaquam Secondary. Today, in his second year at Simon Fraser University, he says he’s ready to take on the big delivery apps.
To date, Dishpal boasts more than 5,000 users, close to 100 drivers and 75 partner restaurants in the South Fraser region, according to Panesar.
He got the idea to develop the app as a 16-year-old enjoying a summertime meal with his father.
“My father mentioned how busy he is to get lunch all the time or get groceries on the weekend,” Panesar recalled. “He also talked about how he wished he could order food at a restaurant before dining in. That’s when I came up with the idea of a smart app for ordering food and delivery online.”
On app launch day, Panesar spoke to Surrey-area news media during a Zoom conference.
A video about Dishpal was posted to Youtube back in July 2020.
Following “extensive research” of the food-delivery market, Panesar said he put together the app with some basic-level coding, “but once it got complicated, we had to get professional developers. We put together a team, which is my family now.”
Dishpal’s “dine in” feature allows users to make reservations, order online, pay at the table and tip.
Grocery delivery is another option, starting in Surrey, with plans to expand to other Canadian markets and also into India.
Look for a DishPal blog on dishpal.com/blog.
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