Swiggy Raises $1.25 Billion in Funding Round Led by SoftBank Following Zomato’s IPO

Swiggy said on Tuesday that it has raised $1.25 billion (roughly Rs. 9,320 crores) in a funding round led by long-term investor Prosus and SoftBank's Vision Fund 2 as it recovers from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"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," Sriharsha Majety, chief executive officer at Swiggy, said.

Goldman Sachs and Qatar Investment Authority were among the notable investors to join the unicorn's latest fundraising.

A stock offering by larger rival startup Zomato drew bids worth $46.3 billion (roughly Rs. 3,45,410 crores) as it was more than 38 times oversubscribed last Friday.

The $1.3 billion (roughly Rs. 9,738 crores) IPO of Zomato, which is backed by China's Ant Group, was the first in India's food delivery sector. It was priced at Rs. 72 to Rs. 76 per share, giving it a valuation of up to $7.98 billion (roughly Rs. 59,780 crores).

Big institutional investors also placed major bets, with the subscription for their category at 52 times the shares on offer, stock exchange data after subscriptions closed on Friday showed.

Alibaba-backed financial payments app Paytm last week also filed draft papers in India for a $2.2 billion (roughly Rs. 16,480 crores) IPO, while Walmart's e-commerce giant Flipkart is also planning one. Its IPO plans come amid a pandemic-fuelled expansion in India's digital economy and an intensifying battle for market share with Alphabet's Google Pay and Facebook-owned WhatsApp Pay.

© Thomson Reuters 2021