1st Time Ever, Swiggy Beats Zomato In Market Cap; Becomes $10 Billion Startup!

Swiggy has become India’s newest decacorn- a company with a valuation of $10 billion and above.

It has joined the small but elite club comprising Flipkart, Byju’s, and Paytm.

It has also become the second most valuable privately held startup after Byju’s.

Zomato’s Woes

Meanwhile, rival Zomato has lost its decacorn status as its shares dropped below the Rs 100 mark earlier today.

They hit an all-time low of Rs 91 and its market cap came down to Rs 71,629 crore ($9.6 billion).

Doubling Valuation

Swiggy surpassed Zomato’s valuation after raising $700 million at a valuation of $10.7 billion, up from $5.5 billion.

Its latest funding round was led by US-based investment firm Invesco and saw participation from new investors such as Baron Capital Group and Kotak, among others.

The company said in a statement that its food delivery business nearly doubled in gross order value (GOV) in the last year.

Instamart The New Cash Cow?

It will use the fundraise for accelerating growth of its core platform and to make meaningful investments to grow Instamart.

The company said that it took Instamart just 17 months to achieve in GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) what its food delivery business managed in 40 months.

This indicates that Instamart may soon overtake its food delivery service.

What Is Q-Commerce?

Instamart is Swiggy’s quick commerce arm which promises grocery delivery within 15-30 minutes.

Also known as q-commerce, quick commerce refers to a new sub-vertical of online grocery segment which promises deliveries within 10-30 minutes of ordering.

It makes use of micro-warehouses located in high-demand neighborhoods.

Fierce Competition

It faces competition in the hotly contested grocery delivery space in India. 

Some of the biggest players include Tata-owned BigBasket, Amazon’s Amazon Fresh, and the new unicorn Blinkit (ex-Grofers, backed by Zomato).

Reliance Industries also entered the fray with Dunzo in which it has invested $200 million.

IPO Coming?

Swiggy CEO Sriharsha Majety said that it will “double down on this” (Instamart) to “build more categories” in line with its mission to offer “unparalleled convenience to Indian consumers.”

Invesco’s investment is a signal that like Zomato, Swiggy may also go for a public listing in the next few years.