Online food delivery start-ups Swiggy, Zomato valued at $3.5 billion each

Hurun India Unicorn Index 2020 has valued two of India's leading online food delivery start-ups -  Swiggy and Zomato - at an equal valuation of $3.5 billion each. The two foodtech unicorns have been jointly ranked at the fifth spot on the list of 10 most valued unicorns in India.

Digital payments start-up Paytm tops the list with a $16 billion valuation, followed by online hotel booking platform OYO Rooms ($8 billion) and ed-tech start-up BYJU's ($8 billion).

Swiggy which began its operations in August 2014 had received $43 million as funding in April this year. According to Hurun report, the total amount raised by the start-up stands at $156 million in its latest funding round. In February, Swiggy had raised $113 million.  

On the other hand Zomato, which was founded in the year 2008, raised $150 million from Ant Financial in January this year. The company is looking to go public by mid-2021,

Zomato founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal was also reported as saying in a recent email to employees that the company is also looking at mergers and acquisitions. Zomato had acquired UberEats in an all stock deal earlier in January.

The two start-ups have been actively raising funds recently even as the segment grapples with the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund-raise is expected to help the two companies fight price competition in the market and also look at potential acquisitions in the space, so as to boost their food delivery capabilities.

Also read: Paytm, OYO, BYJU's most valued Indian unicorns, check out others in top 10