India’s largest food delivery platform Swiggy has bagged its largest investment till date with a US$ 1 billion Series H funding round.
“Swiggy is now miles ahead of competitors like Zomato, Foodpanda and Uber Eats in the battle for the lucrative Indian foodtech market, which is expected to have a GMV of US$ 2.5-3.5 billion by 2021″ – Deepak Kaistha
In fact, this is the largest funding round in the entire Indian foodtech sector so far. This investment takes Swiggy’s valuation to US$ 3.3 billion, making it the fifth most valuable startup in India after Paytm, Ola, Oyo and Byju’s. The company had become a unicorn in June 2018 with a US$ 210 million funding round.
Larry Illg, chief executive officer (food and ventures) at Naspers, commented, “We first partnered with Swiggy in April 2017 because we recognised the Swiggy team had built a sustainable, long-term business that stood out among others in India.
Now, nearly two years later, we have even more confidence Swiggy has the winning formula and will continue to build a leading business in the country.” He further added that Swiggy’s orders per month had ballooned to 10 times since their first investment, and it is the most loved food delivery brand in India.
Naspers is contributing US$ 660 million to the current round. Existing investors DST Global, Meituan Dianping and Coatue Management have also taken part along with new investors Tencent, Hillhouse Capital and Wellington Management.
Sriharsha Majety, CEO, Swiggy stated on the investment, “Swiggy has been at the forefront of elevating the potential of Indian food delivery with its industry-changing innovations and focus on delivering the best consumer experience to millions of Indians. As we add more firepower to our vision of elevating quality of life for urban consumers by offering unparalleled convenience, we’re pleased that visionary global investors share our purpose and have made such a significant investment in our future.”
Some of the key areas where Swiggy would be pumping in funds include top-notch talent in engineering and machine learning roles, delivery-only kitchens to improve supply and AI-driven platform for hyperlocal discovery and on-demand delivery.
Swiggy is engaged in intense competition with Zomato, Foodpanda and Uber Eats to dominate the lucrative foodtech market in India, which is expected to have a GMV of US$ 2.5-3.5 billion by 2021.
Since the last funding round in June, Swiggy has already expanded to 42 more cities. The latest investment takes Swiggy’s funding till date to US$ 1.5 billion, taking a huge lead over key competitor Zomato that has raised US$ 653.8 million so far (source: Crunchbase).
