Swiggy, an Indian food delivery startup Swiggy announced on Tuesday that it raised $1.25 billion in its latest funding round. The round was led by existing investor Prosus and SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2. Softbank invested $450 million in Swiggy and this, alongside other investments gives the food delivery startup a post-money valuation of $5.5 billion.
Founded in 2013 as an e-commerce website called Bundl by Nandan Reddy and Sriharsha Majety, it was rebranded into food delivery startup Swiggy in 2014. It is India’s biggest online food ordering and delivery platform. It is based in Bangalore, India, and was operating in 100 Indian cities as of March 2019. Swiggy expanded into general product deliveries under the name Swiggy Stores in early 2019.
Years ago, India’s food delivery space was an unexplored space, and companies Foodpanda and Tinyowl (that were later acquired by Ola cabs and Zomato) who were brave enough to invest in the market were struggling. With time, the market grew and the prospects became better. The food delivery space became viable and garnered investors.
“The participation of some of the most visionary global investors is a huge vote of confidence in Swiggy’s mission and ability to build an enduring and iconic company out of India. The scope of food delivery in India is massive and over the next few years, we will continue to invest aggressively into growing this category,” Sriharsha Majety, chief executive officer at Swiggy, mentioned.
Just like other startups in India, Swiggy was hit by the pandemic. The company revealed that its expansion into grocery delivery and launching its pick-and-drop service has recorded huge success. It mentioned that the amount and value of orders that it is processing is now 30 percent higher than the volume before coronavirus struck.
“Our biggest investments will be in our non-food businesses that have witnessed tremendous consumer love and growth in a short span, especially in the past 15 months of the pandemic. I believe the next 10-15 years offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for companies like Swiggy as the Indian middle class expands and our target segment for convenience grows to 500 million users”, Sriharsha Majety added.
Swiggy’s latest round had notable investors. Apart from Prosus and SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2, other notable investors that were a part of the round include Goldman Sachs and Qatar Investment Authority.
Sumer Juneja, Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, in a statement said that “from its early days, I have had the privilege to watch Swiggy execute on their vision to become the leader in the convenience economy. Their focus on consumer delight, product innovation, and ecosystem support has made Swiggy a compelling digital experience in India. They have the railroads in place to empower multiple businesses to reach the new age consumer on a daily basis, and food delivery is just the beginning.”
Ibhadojemu Lucky Emmanuel is a graduate of Education and Economics from the University of Benin. He has a passion for tech and business and has been writing professionally for over a period of five years. He's written across various topics and segments and knew tech-business was it when he first stumbled on it. He has a great passion for music and arts, and wants to visit as many countries as he can someday.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
