Swiggy raises $1.25 billion led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Prosus

Swiggy, a food delivery platform, has announced a $1.25 billion (Rs 9,345 crore) funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Prosus. The round valued the foodtech major at $5.5 billion (around Rs 41,125 crore).

Previously, The company had $800 million raised from investors including Qatar Investment Authority, Falcon Edge Capital, Amansa Capital, and Goldman Sachs, in addition to Prosus and Accel.

The new round was largely funded by SoftBank, which contributed $450 million. Existing investors like Accel Partners and Wellington Management also took part in the round. In addition, new investors such as Qatar Investment Authority, Falcon Edge Capital, Amansa Capital, Goldman Sachs, Think Investments, and Carmignac participated in this round of funding.

The participation of some of the world's most visionary investors is a massive positive move in Swiggy's mission, according to Swiggy CEO Sriharsha Majety. He also emphasized the vast scope of food delivery in 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. 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,” he added.

With the new funds, the startup intends to double down on its core business, make acquisitions, and aggressively invest in its promising instant grocery delivery business Instamart and its pick up and drop service Swiggy Genie.

Swiggy's fundraising came in the wake of competitor Zomato's mega initial public offering (IPO), which valued Zomato at Rs 64,365 crore.

Swiggy was founded in 2014 and is India's largest online food ordering and delivery platform. Swiggy is based in Bangalore, India, and was operating in 100 Indian cities as of March 2019. Swiggy Stores, Swiggy's general product delivery service, launched in early 2019.

Nandan Reddy and Sriharsha Majety, the two founders, created Bundl in 2013 to facilitate courier service and shipping within India. Bundl was shut down and rebranded to enter the food delivery market. In 2014, Majety and Reddy approached Rahul Jaimini, formerly of Myntra, and founded Swiggy and parent company Bundl Technologies.

Swiggy has teamed up with Burger King to offer delivery services. It has also collaborated with Google Local Guide to facilitate customer reviews, as well as with Sodexo to allow customers to pay with meal cards.

The company has collaborated with Indifi Technologies to offer a financing program to partner restaurants. Swiggy and ICICI Bank collaborated to launch Swiggy Money, a digital wallet.

According to media reports, Swiggy and drone company ANRA Technologies have begun trials for drone deliveries in India.

Also Read:

• CCI approves Softbank investment in Swiggy

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