Swiggy raises $100 million in funding from Naspers and Meituan Dianping

NewCrop Team / February 9, 2018 / India

Indian food delivery giant, Swiggy announced that it has raised $100 million in Series F funding. The round was Swiggy’s largest one yet and was led by the South African media giant, Naspers. It also saw participation from a new investor, Meituan Dianping, which is China’s largest e-commerce platform. The round has finally put an end to the months of negotiations which featured both SoftBank and Flipkart trying to woo the online food delivery giant.

“As India’s leading food ordering and delivery platform with a network of thousands of restaurants and millions of users, Swiggy has become part of consumers’ everyday lives. We want to continue to bring convenience, choice and reliability to our users as we fulfil our mission of ‘Changing the Way India Eats’,” Sriharsha Majety, CEO, Swiggy, in a statement said.

The company will use the funding to further strengthen its position in the market by introducing a number of innovative and advanced products and services. Additionally, as part of its long term strategy of resolving the existing supply gaps in the market place, Swiggy will invest in its new supply business line.

According to sources familiar with the financial details of the deal, it is likely to value Swiggy in the $600-$650 million range prior to the investment. The startup was last valued at $400 million when Naspers led an $80 million investment in May 2017. Naspers currently holds a 33 per cent stake in Tencent, the lead investor in Meituan Dianping, which has emerged as a new investor in Swiggy in the latest funding round.

With the latest round, the total funding raised by the Bengaluru-based startup is at $255.5 million. Since its last round of funding, Swiggy introduced a number of initiatives including Swiggy Access, long-distance deliveries and Capital Assist to assist restaurants in serving consumers in a new and more impactful manner. The startup also strengthened its senior leadership by making several additions to its team including those from its ‘acqui-hire’ of Bengaluru-based gourmet food startup, 48East.

“Swiggy has continued strong growth through 2017 and now has a clear lead in the market,” said Larry Illg, CEO, Naspers Ventures. “The company’s performance is all the more impressive given the intense competition we see in the food ordering and delivery business in India. Swiggy has shown it has the ability to rise above the competition and create long-term relationships with its users.”

The announcement of the latest round of funding comes a week after the startup’s competitor; Zomato raised $200 million in funding from Alibaba’s payment affiliate, Ant Financial. Swiggy has shown a whopping 500 per cent rise in revenues in the previous financial year and has seen order volumes nearly double since its last round of funding held in May 2017.

(Picture courtesy: twitter.com)

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