Swiggy to Close $750 Million Funding Round

With the advent of food delivery platforms, gratifying food cravings have become easy for consumers. On a single platform, different varieties of cuisines are available, from nearby restaurants, and that too at competitive pricing. Besides this, there are many more benefits that prominent food-tech companies keep bringing on for their customer base.

For grabbing more customers, food-tech companies are presently employing various methods to sustain in the cut-throat competition. Recently, the leading food-tech company, Swiggy, has been trying to close a $700-$750 million round syndicated by South Africa-based investor, Naspers, according to a media report.

According to the daily news, Mint, which cited two anonymous sources, South Africa-headquartered, Naspers will invest almost $350 million whereas a cohort of Korean investors viz. Korea Omega Investment and STIC Investments will invest $50 million collectively.

The remaining sum will be invested by other existing investors.

A Surge in Swiggy’s Valuation

Following a $750 million funding round, the valuation of the food-tech company, Swiggy can increment to $4 billion. Earlier in May, according to the cited media reports, it was conjectured that the food delivery firm would raise a $500 million funding round.

In July, it was reported that Swiggy was in discussions with the Japanese conglomerate, SoftBank to garner funds. However, the talks between the two parties ended and nothing could be achieved.

More so, South Korea-based VC firms viz. Mirae Asset Management, Korea Investment Partners, Neoplux and STIC Investments were stated to be partaking in Swiggy’s $500 million funding round, as reported by the daily news, Inc 42.

The food-tech company proclaimed to have garnered an aggregate $1.26 billion funds until now. The investors, which are currently associated with the company, are Naspers, Accel Partners, Saif Partners, DST Global, and Meituan-Dianping.

Branching Out into Other Spheres

In the past few months, Swiggy has been focusing on users, who are residing in small towns. The food-tech company is trying to accelerate its business by shifting its focus from major cities. In the present year, the company has forayed in a total of 185 towns in India, as reported by the daily news, Mint.

Comparatively, its rival, Zomato has outdone Swiggy in the race by expanding its presence in almost 300 Indian cities. To expand the business, Swiggy has branched out into different niches and began increasing its offerings--Swiggy Stores, Swiggy Access and Swiggy Daily, to name a few.

Financial Backdrop of Swiggy

The Bengaluru-based food-tech company, Swiggy was established by Nandan Reddy, Rahul Jaimini and Sriharsha Majety in 2014. The company currently proclaims to have more than 2 lakh delivery partners and over 1 lakh restaurant partners situated in more than 200 cities.

According to Venture Intelligence’s report, Swiggy has earned $67.21 million in revenue in the financial year 2018, including an operational income of $63.44 million. In FY 2018, the company had reported a net loss of $58.89 million, an increase of 94.01 per cent from the financial year 2017.

Despite incurring losses, the company is accelerating its business by foraying into other segments.