Swiggy raises $80 million in Series E funding led by Naspers

Image: Joshua Navalkar

Bengaluru-based food ordering and delivery platform Swiggy has raised $80 million (Rs 517 core) in series E funding that was led by global technology investor Naspers. This investment — which is equal to the overall investments in the sector last year — demonstrates Swiggy’s ability to further expand and grow in India’s online food delivery space, which has seen many players struggle to raise funds and even some fall by the wayside. According to research firm RedSeer, $80 million in funding was pumped in to the online food delivery space last year as compared to $500 million in the year before, a clear indication of muted investor sentiments.

“Swiggy has shown impressive growth in a highly competitive market. Naspers was attracted to the company’s exceptional execution in disrupting online food ordering and delivery in India while many players are struggling,” said Ashutosh Sharma, head of investments in India, Naspers. “Their ability to create a sustainable business, earning consumer trust through a reliable first-party delivery technology, positions them well for success,” added Sharma, who is now a board member of Swiggy.

In statement, on Tuesday, Swiggy said that it would use the funds to introduce a host of new product and services, but did not elaborate what those would be. The startup also announced plans to double its engineering headcount and increase its investments across core engineering, automation, data sciences, machine learning and personalisation. Swiggy’s existing investors Accel India, SAIF Partners India, Bessemer Venture Partners, Harmony Partners and Norwest Venture Partners also participated in the latest round of funding. Post this latest fund raise, Swiggy in total has raised a total of $155.5 million (Rs 1,005 crore) in venture funding.

In August 2014, Sriharsha Majety (31) and Nandan Reddy (29), batchmates from BITS Pilani, teamed up with Rahul Jaimini (29) to start an online food ordering and delivery company out a 1- BHK (Bedroom, Hall, Kitchen) apartment in Bengaluru’s upscale neighbourhood of Koramangala. From six delivery executives and 25 restaurants on its platform, today, the startup has over 6,000 delivery executives across NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Pune, with thousands of restaurants on its platform.

“In a span of three years, Swiggy has been instrumental in changing the way India eats by delivering delightful customer experiences. This investment by Naspers is further testimony to Swiggy’s vision and performance,” said Majety, co-founder and CEO, Swiggy. “We are leveraging our deep understanding of the Indian consumer and the gaps in the market to introduce disruptive and highly differentiated service offerings; making online food ordering and delivery more seamless and reliable to users everywhere,” added Majety.

Earlier this year, Reddy and Jaimini featured in the 2017 Forbes India 30Under30 achievers list. In a meeting with Forbes India back then, Reddy said, “We see a million orders a day being a very real possibility in the next five years.”