Swiggy Bags $210 MN Funding from DST Global, Naspers

Swiggy has raised another round of funding by bagging $210 million from DST Global, Naspers.

With this round of funding, the food delivery start up becomes the latest startup to join the Unicorn club.

The company said that hedge fund Coatue and existing backer Meituan Dianping are also participating in this round, as it beefs up its war chest to battle Ant Financial-backed Zomato and new rivals like Ubereats and Ola-owned Foodpanda.

Swiggy is planning to invest the amount to ramp up its supply chain network and expand to new markets.

"The company will also double its technology headcount to build for robust operations, deep personalization and connected supply chain systems," it said in a statement.

Founded in August 2014 by Sriharsha Majety, Nandan Reddy and Rahul Jaimini, Swiggy will cross $466 million funding.

“We’re thrilled to have grown the online food delivery market in India at an exponential rate, always keeping our consumers at the helm. With this investment, we will continue to widen Swiggy’s offerings, along with bolstering our capabilities and plugging the gaps in the on-demand delivery ecosystem," said Majety, CEO of Swiggy, in a statement.

For DST Global, one of the world's most influential tech investor which counts Facebook, Airbnb, and Alibaba in its investment portfolio, this will be its third India investment after India's largest online retailer Flipkart in 2014 and cab hailing Ola in 2015. A personal investment vehicle of DST's partners, called Apolleto Asia had invested in Swiggy in 2015.

"Swiggy’s rapid growth, along with highly engaged users, restaurants, and delivery partners, shows the strong value proposition they have for all participants in the ecosystem,” said Saurabh Gupta, Managing Partner at DST Global.