Zomato to raise $500-600 million in next six months, says CEO Deepinder Goyal

Foodtech unicorn Zomato plans to raise $500-$600 million in the next six months as the online food delivery company looks to fuel its ambitions in food delivery, dining out and sustainability.

Speaking at the HT Leadership Summit, Zomato Founder & CEO Deepinder Goyal on Thursday said raising money was still possible for good businesses in India, adding that Zomato would raise $500-$600 million in next 6 months. However, he did not disclose any further details.

The entrepreneur said that Zomato has hired 2.5 lakh people in the last 18 months alone. He also added that the company now serves 48 million people every month. "We serve 48 million people in India every year. Outside India, we serve 25 million people. We serve in 11 countries now," said Goyal.

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Earlier this year, the Gurugram-based foodtech firm raised $62.5 million from Naspers-backed German food-tech major Delivery Hero, which pushed its value to about $2 billion. Adding to it, the company raised another $40 million funding led by US-based private investors Glade Brook.

In October 2018, the Delhi-NCR based food delivery startup had raised an additional funding of $210 million led by Ant Financials.

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Meanwhile, rival Swiggy has already raised $1 billion funding led by Naspers and other existing investors.

On the financial front, Zomato reported 188 per cent jump in its revenue at Rs 1,397 crore for the financial year 2019, compared to Rs 485 crore in the previous financial year. While the revenues have grown, the company's losses have widened to Rs 1,001 crore in FY19 from Rs 106 crore.

Edited by Chitranjan Kumar