Swiggy, the food delivery startup that is competing against the likes of Zomato, is reportedly in talks with various investors for a new funding round.
A new report from Economic Times suggest that Japan-based SoftBank has also shown interest to pick up stake of the Bangalore-based food-tech startup. SoftBank could invest around $200-250 million in the company.
However, SoftBank is not the only that that is hoping to pick up a minority stake in Swiggy. The food-tech startup is also reportedly in talks with Bangalore-based eCommerce firm Flipkart and China-based Tencent.
If the talks turns out successful, the investment in Swiggy could be made at a pre-money valuation of around $600-650 million. Flipkart and Tencent are expected to co-invest in the food delivery startup, with each of them pumping in around $50 million, taking total to $100 million.
It is noteworthy that Tencent is also an investor in Flipkart. The China-based giant invested in the homegrown eCommerce firm earlier this year, along with Microsoft and eBay, in a funding round worth around .
Interestingly, Alibaba and its payments arm Ant Financials is also exploring investment opportunity in Swiggy. Tencent and Alibaba, both are aiming to have a significant market share in the Indian internet ecosystem.
Previously, Swiggy and Zomato were said to be exploring a possible merger, but the talks failed owing to differences in business alignment and valuation metrics.
Earlier this year, in June, Swiggy raised around ₹500 crore in a new funding round from Naspers, along with the company’s existing investors Accel India, SAIF Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Harmony Partners and Norwest Partners.