Zomato raises $660 mn at $3.9 bn valuation

BENGALURU: Gurugram-based food tech unicorn Zomato has completed its primary fundraise worth $660 million, giving the company a valuation of $3.9 billion, as the firm set its sights on an initial share sale in the first half of 2021.

The fundraise saw 10 new investors join Zomato including Tiger Global Management, Baillie Gifford, Luxor Capital, Kora Capital, Steadview, D1 Capital and Mirae Asset, Zomato founder and chief executive Deepinder Goyal said on Twitter.

Zomato is also raising $140 million as a part of a secondary transaction, Goyal said.

As a part of this final fundraise before its IPO, Zomato has provided liquidity worth $30 million to its former employees.

The startup has been on a fund-raising spree to bolster its cash reserves as it looks to build a war-chest for future acquisitions as well as to fight any possible price wars in the coming months.

Mint had earlier reported that Zomato was aiming to make acquisitions in the logistics space.

The current valuation makes Zomato the most-valued food tech unicorn in the Indian startup ecosystem, surpassing competitor Swiggy, which is valued at $3.3 billion.

In November, Zomato had made takeaway service commissions free on its platform to boost business for offline restaurants.

The company also claimed that the gross merchandise value run rate of food orders on its platform was 110% of that in the months before the pandemic.

Last month, Zomato also said that it has delivered more than 130 million orders since the start of the first lockdown imposed in March to contain the spread of coronavirus.

THE CURRENT VALUATION

MAKES ZOMATO THE MOST-VALUED FOOD TECH UNICORN IN INDIA