Naspers powers Swiggy with US$1bn
Swiggy, an online food-delivery platform in India, is expanding services supported by the hefty US$1 billion investment from South African media group, Naspers.
“We are pleased that visionary global investors share our purpose and have made such a significant investment in our future,” Swiggy CEO Sriharsha Majety said in a statement.
The company plans to hire top-notch talent, especially in the field of machine learning and engineering to build next generation artificial intelligence-driven platform for on-demand delivery.
Swiggy, which manages 25 million orders a month, plans to fund new services such as deliveries of medicine and grocery deliveries as well as offer more food brands.
This latest investment has raised Swiggy’s valuation to US$3.3 billion, up sharply from US$1.3 billion supported by US$210 million raised in June 2018. It was valued at US$700 million on US$100 million raised in February 2018.
The valuation growth has been phenomenal as Swiggy was considered worth US$15 million from its US$210 million funding in September 2016 but went up more than five-fold to US$80 million from June 2017’s US$380 million funding.
China’s WeChat and hedge funds Hillhouse Capital and Wellington Management have also participated in Swiggy’s latest funding.
Existing investors DST Global, Meituan Dianpin and Coatue Management extended their stake as some existing investors sold, according to media reports on 21 Dec 2018.
Majety founded the company in 2014 with Nandan Reddy. fiinews.com
