[The F Word] Swiggy confirms fund raise of $210M led by Naspers and DST Global

Swiggy on Thursday confirmed that it is raising $210 million in Series G funding led by existing investor Naspers and new investors DST Global and Coatue Management. Existing shareholder Meituan-Dianping also participated in this round of funding.

Earlier in February, Swiggy had raised $100 million Series F funding led by Naspers and Meituan-Dianping. With this fund raise the total funding raised by Swiggy will be at $465 million, one of the highest funded startups in the foodtech segment.

Earlier, several sources had confirmed to YourStory, that with this fund raise, Swiggy will now enter the unicorn club with a valuation of $1.3 billion. Swiggy will be looking to ramp up its supply chain network and expand to new markets. It will also invest in core capabilities to further enhance customer experience. Avendus was the advisor for this fund raise.

The team is also looking to double its tech team to build stronger operations, bring in deep personalisation and connected supply chain systems. To fuel its ambitions to conquer the market, Swiggy has kept busy this year, raising big monies, launching Swiggy Access and Swiggy POP, as well as opening up in newer geographies, and even acquiring Bengaluru-based cloud-restaurant 48East. 

Read more: Exclusive: Welcome the new Unicorn of India

Sriharsha Majety, Co-founder and CEO, Swiggy, says that with this investment they aim to continue to widen Swiggy's offerings, along with bolstering their capabilities and plugging the gaps in the on-demand delivery ecosystem. "This continual trust from globally reputed investors strengthen our core objective of enriching the lives of our consumers and partners by making our services more convenient and hassle-free," says Harsha.

The team claims to have seen a three-fold increase in revenues in the last financial year. Swiggy has tied up with over 35,000 restaurants, and has a delivery fleet of more than 40,000 partners. Since the last round of funding three months ago, Swiggy has begun operations in Kochi, Coimbatore, Nagpur, and Lucknow and introduced innovative payment options for both consumers and delivery partners.

For 2016-17, the company posted a revenue of Rs 133.1 crore and a loss of Rs 205.2 crore. In the previous year, the Bengaluru-based foodtech startup had posted a revenue of Rs 23.6 crore and a loss of Rs 137.2 crore. The overall foodtech market in India will be worth $2.5 billion in 2021 as against $700 million at present according to research firm RedSeer. 

Saurabh Gupta, Managing Partner at DST Global, said in a press statement: “Swiggy is transforming the way food is delivered in India. Swiggy’s rapid growth, along with highly engaged users, restaurants and delivery partners, shows the strong value proposition it has for all participants in the ecosystem. We are delighted to partner with Harsha and the team at Swiggy and support them as they create the on-demand commerce platform for India.”

Alibaba's Ant Financial had pumped in $200 million into Zomato, earlier this year, taking the Delhi-based food startup's valuation to $1.1 billion. According to reports, Zomato has been in the market for funds since 2017 and raised close to $225 million in funding during the year.

Apart from restaurant chains and bigger players, Swiggy also works with small restaurant owners who form a big part of the unorganised restaurant business. For many small restaurants, Swiggy is the primary route through which orders flow in.

Larry Illg, CEO, Naspers Ventures, said: “Swiggy has the best technology platform in the market and when combined with its business model, which caters to the unique demands of the Indian ecosystem, enables the company to deliver the best possible service to Indian consumers. This infusion of capital, making Swiggy the best-funded food delivery platform in India, ensures that ambitious plans for broadening their platform and expanding their reach across India will be realised.”

Now with two unicorns in the foodtech sector, it will be interesting to see how the market will grow and expand.