Swiggy Raises $210 Mn In Series G Funding Led By Naspers And DST Global

Bengaluru-based food delivery startup Swiggy has secured $210 Mn in a Series G funding led by existing investor Naspers and new investor DST Global.

The round will also see participation from Swiggy’s existing shareholder, Meituan-Dianping, and a new investor, Coatue Management. Earlier, reports had surfaced about Swiggy being in talks with Coatue Management and DST Global to raise funds and enter the unicorn club with a major boost in its valuation.

The Series G funding will enable Swiggy to quickly ramp up its supply chain network and expand to new markets while investing in core capabilities that enhance customer experience and the brand.

The company will also double its technology headcount to build solutions for robust operations, deep personalisation, and connected supply chain systems.

Commenting on the development, Sriharsha Majety, CEO, Swiggy, said, “We’re thrilled to have grown the online food delivery market in India at an exponential rate, always keeping our consumers at the helm. With this investment, we will continue to widen Swiggy’s offerings, along with bolstering our capabilities and plugging the gaps in the on-demand delivery ecosystem.”

This follows a $100 Mn Series F round of fundraising in Swiggy, led by Naspers with participation from existing shareholder, Meituan-Dianping in February.

Headquartered in Bengaluru, the food delivery startup has raised a total of $255 Mn in funding till date. By contrast, Zomato has secured around $444 Mn in funding so far.

On the investment, Larry Illg, CEO of Naspers Ventures, said, “Swiggy has the best technology platform in the market and, when combined with its business model, which caters to the unique demands of the Indian ecosystem, it enables the company to deliver the best possible service to Indian consumers. This infusion of capital, making Swiggy the best-funded food delivery platform in India, ensures that ambitious plans for broadening their platform and expanding their reach across India will be realised.”

Within three months of the last fundraiser, the company has started operations in Kochi, Coimbatore, Nagpur, and Lucknow and has also introduced new payment options for both consumers and delivery partners.

Swiggy: Battling Hurdles With Innovations

Founded in August 2014 by Sriharsha Majety, Nandan Reddy, and Rahul Jaimini, the platform is currently functional in over 11 cities, including Delhi, NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, and Chandigarh.

The company claims to enable reliable, fast, and convenient deliveries from over 35K restaurants, and a delivery fleet of more than 40K partners.

As per industry estimates, it boasts about 7 Mn monthly orders compared to Zomato’s 5.5 Mn orders in the month of March.

From a cloud kitchen to introducing new supply chain, Swiggy has been aggressively working to hike up its market share in the food delivery segment. Over the last several months, Swiggy has launched a slew of new initiatives including Swiggy Access, long-distance deliveries and Capital Assist to help restaurants serve consumers in new and more powerful ways.

Swiggy Scheduled enables users to plan and order their meals for lunch, dinner, breakfast, or party menus in advance. With this service, the users can place their orders in slots of 30 minutes, a minimum of two hours and maximum of 48 hours in advance for a zero delivery or cancellation fee (before the order becomes live).

The company is also reportedly working to foray into the hyperlocal vertical with a campaign called Dash, particularly in the medicine and grocery categories. The move is geared towards boosting the company’s overall volume.

As a result of its continued focus on strengthening its product portfolio, Swiggy posted a record increase of 500% in revenues in FY17 and saw order volumes nearly double since its previous funding in May 2017. As of now, Swiggy claims its average delivery time as an industry benchmark of under 35 minutes.

According to a study by Netscribes Research, the online food delivery segment in India is expected to expand by 34%-36% between 2015 and 2020.

Amid increasing competition in the food delivery segment with the entry of global players like UberEATS and Google Areo, and Zomato already present, Swiggy’s continuous fundings are keeping it afloat while its innovations and focus on customers drive it towards growth.