Swiggy to close $800 mn funding round; valuation rises to $5 billion

Food delivery app Swiggy is in the process of closing an $800 million funding round with investors comprising Goldman Sachs and Falcon Edge Capital, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Sriharsha Majety said in an emailed letter to employees.

The deal will leapfrog the food tech startup's valuation to around $5 billion from its previous valuation of $3.6 billion in 2020.

The fundraising was heavily subscribed and existing investors comprising Accel and Naspers Ltd participated, Majety stated in the note, Bloomberg reported.

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The new capital will help Swiggy speed up growth in its existing businesses and also help it seed new ones, as the convenience delivery segment expands to half-a-billion users in the next 10 years.

The food delivery startup competes with other platforms in the same space, such as the unicorn Zomato and the food delivery arm of Amazon Inc's India unit, which recently launched its service to Prime members in several zip codes in Bengaluru.

Over the last year "we have managed to drive a strong recovery in the food delivery business with a very clear path to profitability," Majety said in the note.

He added that the food delivery business "is the strongest it's ever been and now we are well on our way to drive continued growth over the next decade."  He further stated that Swiggy's hyperlocal grocery delivery service is demonstrating "amazing promise."

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