Zomato’s Deepinder Goyal Out Of Shark Tank India As Rival Swiggy Set To Sponsor The Show

Zomato cofounder and CEO Deepinder Goyal will not be seen in the upcoming season of Shark Tank India, as the foodtech major’s competitor Swiggy has sought Goyal’s removal as part of a deal to sponsor the TV show. 

“I unfortunately can’t go back because Swiggy sponsored Shark Tank this time and kicked me out,” Goyal told Economic Times.

As per a separate report by Moneycontrol, IPO-bound Swiggy has stipulated in the sponsorship agreement that Goyal should not be part of the panel of judges on the TV show. The Bengaluru-based foodtech major is said to be close to finalising a deal to sponsor the fourth season of Shark Tank India for INR 25 Cr.

Meanwhile, responding to a question on Swiggy’s IPO, Goyal said, “I genuinely don’t know, and we don’t even think about it. We’ll see what happens.” 

On September 26, Swiggy filed its updated draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for its IPO. As per the draft document, the public issue will comprise a fresh issue of shares worth INR 3,750 Cr and an offer for sale (OFS) of 18.57 Cr shares. However, earlier this week, the foodtech giant received approval of its shareholders to increase the size of the fresh issue in its IPO to INR 5,000 Cr.

Swiggy plans to utilise INR 950 Cr from the IPO proceeds to fuel marketing and brand awareness to shore up growth and woo more customers.

The development comes at a time when Swiggy has launched a slew of new offerings in the runup to its IPO. The company announced the launch of a bulk order service called ‘Swiggy XL EV’ fleet in Gurugram on Saturday (October 6), almost a month after Inc42 exclusively reported that it was piloting a large order fleet.

Prior to that, the company also launched ‘Bolt’ to deliver quick-to-prepare dishes in 10 minutes in six cities – Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, and Pune. The IPO-bound major is also said to be experimenting with high-priced concierge membership that offers subscribers purchase access to high-end experiences and events.

Swiggy’s consolidated net loss widened over 8% to INR 611 Cr in the first quarter (Q1) of the fiscal year 2024-25 (FY25) from INR 564.08 Cr in the year-ago period. Revenue from operations zoomed 35% to INR 3,222.2 Cr during the quarter under review from INR 2,389.8 Cr in Q1 FY24.

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