Indian delivery service Swiggy has closed a $1.25 billion round of Series J funding led by Softbank Vision Fund 2 and Prosus Ventures, according to TechCrunch. Qatar Investment Authority, Falcon Edge Capital, Amansa Capital, Goldman Sachs, Think Investments and Carmignac participated in the fundraising, as well as existing investors Accel Partners and Wellington Management.
The “heavily oversubscribed” round includes the $800 million the company raised earlier this year. To date, Swiggy has raised $2.9 billion in funding and has a post-money valuation of $5.5 billion.
Like its rival Zomato (who filed to go public in April 2021), Swiggy is best known across India for its restaurant food delivery service. However, Swiggy’s Chief Executive Sriharsha Majety said that this new funding will also help accelerate its non-food categories in addition to traditional restaurant delivery. “I believe the next 10-15 years offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for companies like Swiggy as the Indian middle class expands and our target segment for convenience grows to 500 million users,” he told TC.
In 2020, Swiggy expanded its service to include delivery of grocery, household items, and laundry, among other categories.
Zomato, too, has branched out beyond restaurant delivery with its Zomato Marketplace that connects restaurant owners with suppliers of non-food items. The company raised $1.3 billion in its IPO recently.
The move to offer more than just restaurant meals is similar to developments in other parts of the world. A chief example is DoorDash, the U.S.-based company that added grocery services in 2020 and has also since expanded its “dark convenience store” service. Uber has also started offering non-restaurant food delivery.
In addition to the major companies, an entirely new pack of speedy delivery services has emerged and promises basic food and household items in a fraction of the time it takes a restaurant meal to get cooked and delivered.
Speedy delivery has yet to reach India in any major capacity. When it does, it will add yet-more competition to the already uber-competitive Indian delivery market.