Food delivery startup Swiggy has raised $1 billion in Series H funding round led by its existing investor Naspers, the investor firm said in a statement today. The new round has reportedly shot up Swiggy’s valuation to $3.3 billion. Naspers claimed that Swiggy has doubled its gross merchandise value in the last six months without revealing figures. Other existing investors including DST Global, Meituan Dianping and Coatue Management, along with new investors Tencent, Hillhouse Capital and Wellington Management also participated in the round.
Swiggy is engaged in an intense competition with other major players in the hyper-competitive food tech market involving Zomato, which is backed by Ant Financial; Foodpanda, which is run by Ola; and Uber Eats.
The funds will be deployed towards strengthening its supply chain through “delivery-only kitchens”, hiring talent particularly for machine learning and engineering roles and building an AI-based platform for hyperlocal discovery and on-demand delivery, Naspers said.
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“As we add more firepower to our vision of elevating the quality of life for urban consumers, we’re pleased that visionary global investors share our purpose and have made such a significant investment in our future,” Swiggy’s CEO Sriharsha Majety said.
Swiggy turned unicorn with its last round of $210 million in June this year. “Since then, the company has expanded to 42 additional cities and strengthened its leading market share along with industry-best repeat rates and net promoter score (NPS),” the statement added.
“Swiggy has 10x the number of orders per month since our first investment, has expanded throughout India to tier 1, 2 and 3 cities, and most importantly, is the most loved food delivery brand in India,” said Larry Illg, CEO, Food and Ventures, Naspers. “We first partnered with Swiggy in April 2017 because we recognized the Swiggy team had built a sustainable, long-term business, that stood out among others in India,” said Larry.
Swiggy has so far raised $1.5 billion in funding over 9 rounds. The company was founded in 2014, Swiggy has over 50,000 restaurant partners and 120,000 delivery partners across more than 50 cities.
