Softbank may invest up to $450 million in foodtech Swiggy

• SoftBank is in talks on investing around $450 million) in the food ordering and delivery platform Swiggy.
• The platform is expected to be valued at a $5 billion valuation after funding.

• The investment comes at a time when rival food ordering platform Zomato is planning to go for an initial public offering (IPO) during the year.

SoftBank is in advanced talks with Swiggy, a food aggregator site, to invest about $450 million (roughly Rs 3,348 crore). According to the media reports, the transaction would value the Bengaluru-based company at around $5 billion.

Falcon Edge Capital, Amansa Capital, Think Investments, Carmignac, and Goldman Sachs had previously reported an investment of $800 million (roughly Rs 5,862 crore) in the food delivery startup.

Sriharsha Majety, the startup's co-founder and CEO, revealed the likely deal in an email to employees in April. The proposed investment comes at a time when rival food ordering platform Zomato is planning to go for an initial public offering (IPO) during the year.

Sriharhsa Majety, Nandan Reddy, and Rahul Jaimini formed Swiggy in 2014. It was named a unicorn in December 2017 and now has over 1,30,000 distribution partners (the food tech startup had 2,20,000 delivery partners before the pandemic). Rahul is no longer involved in Swiggy's operations.

Also Read: Dunzo might raise $150 million funding from investors, says report

He added that the food delivery industry is at its highest point in history, and Swiggy is well on its way to driving sustained growth over the next decade.

Genie, the company's latest Dunzo-like feature that can handle any kind of delivery anywhere, is now available in 65 cities. Instamart, the company's grocery delivery app, is available in two markets, and HealthHub, which focuses on healthy foods, is available in four.

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