Swiggy enters unicorn club after $210 million fundraise

BIZ STRATEGY Startup plans to use funds to ramp up supplychain network, expand to new markets

BENGALURU: Swiggy raised $210 million from a group of investors, catapulting India’s largest food delivery service provider into a select club of unicorns with a valuation of $1 billion or more.

The latest fundraising, led by Naspers and billionaire Yuri Milner’s DST Global, values Swiggy at roughly $1.3 billion, surpassing rival Zomato’s $1.1 billion valuation based on a February fundraising round. China’s MeituanDianping has also invested in the latest funding round, along with new investor Coatue Management.

Swiggy, founded in August 2014, is one of the fastest entrants into the unicorn club. The latest fund-raising will add pressure on Zomato to raise additional funds quickly to keep pace with its Bengaluru-based rival in the online food-delivery business.

Mint reported on April 2 that Zomato was in talks to raise $200400 million.

Swiggy, which has emerged as the breakout consumer internet startup of the past five years, has easily been the most prolific food delivery start-up in terms of its ability to continue raising funds from deep-pocketed foreign investors.

It has raised about $465 million till date, according to Mint research. Barely four months ago, Swiggy raised $100 million from South African media giant Naspers.

Swiggy, which is by far India’s best-funded food delivery startup, plans to use the funds to ramp up its supply-chain network and expand to new markets, the company said in a statement.

“With this investment, we will continue to widen Swiggy’s offerings, along with bolstering our capabilities and plugging the gaps in the on-demand delivery ecosystem,” said Sriharsha Majety, chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder of Swiggy.

Swiggy, which operates in 15 cities including Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Kolkata, claims to have more than 35,000 restaurant partners on its platform and a delivery fleet of over 40,000.

Founded by Majety, Nandan Reddy and Rahul Jaimini, Swiggy is one of the few consumer internet start-ups from 2014 that is thriving and consistently chased by large global investors.

Many smaller peers have either been shut down or sold in distress deals.

Some others, such as Grofers, are struggling to attract new investors and have been unable to find a sustainable long-term business model.

SWIGGY CLAIMS TO HAVE MORE THAN 35,000 RESTAURANT PARTNERS ON ITS PLATFORM