Zomato to raise $150 million from investor Ant Financial at $3 billion valuation

Foodtech unicorn Zomato will raise $150 million from existing investor Ant Financial, an affiliate of Chinese e-commerce major Alibaba. The transaction values Zomato at a pre-money valuation of $3 billion.

"Zomato has signed a definitive agreement to undertake a primary fund raise of up to $150 million from Ant Financial Singapore Holding (Antfin)," Zomato's top shareholder Info Edge (India) said in an exchange filing on Friday.

Ant Financial has been an investor in Zomato since 2018. Following the completion of this round of funding, Info Edge's shareholding in Zomato will reduce to about 25.13 per cent on fully converted and diluted basis, it said.

In 2018, Ant Financial had acquired a 14.7 per cent stake in Zomato for $210 million and became the company's largest investor. Ant Financial further increased its stake in the Gurugram-based food-tech firm to 23 per cent in November 2018.

The investment is seen as a part of a larger $500 million funding round, which was announced by Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal in December. According to an Economic Times report, the round is expected to close in the next two months.

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

Earlier in December, Zomato Founder & CEO Deepinder Goyal had said that the company would raise $500-$600 million in the next six months to fuel its ambitions in food delivery, dining out and sustainability. However, he did not disclose any further details.

Last year, the food-tech firm had raised $62.5 million from Naspers-backed German food-tech major Delivery Hero, at $2 billion valuations.

Adding to it, the company raised another $40 million funding led by US-based private investors Glade Brook. In October 2018, the food delivery startup had raised an additional funding of $210 million led by Ant Financial.

Also Read: Byju's raises $200 million, becomes India's third most valued unicorn

The investment comes at a time when there is speculation in the market that US-based cab service app Uber is planning to invest $100-$200 million in the company. Zomato is also planning to buy the loss-making food delivery startup UberEats.

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

On the financial front, Zomato reported a 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.