Venture Catalysts invests an undisclosed amount on Supr Daily

Online food delivery platform Swiggy is seeking attention from existing and new investors to raise funds at a valuation of $2.3-2.5 billion, as it burns cash at a quick pace in a fight for market share in the food delivery space, three people familiar with the matter said,

Swiggy’s rival Zomato which is backed by Ant Financial could be considered as a trigger for the third round of fund raise this year. In June Swiggy had raised $210 million from a clutch of investors in a round that valued it at $1.3 billion, making the startup the fastest to enter the haloed Unicorn Club.

Swiggy was in July offered at least one term sheet with an estimated valuation of $2.5 billion. It is unclear how much money the Bengaluru-based company is planning to raise in this round, but one of the people said it could raise anywhere between $250 million and $500 million.

The Bengaluru-based firm is also planning to raise up to $500 million, valuation may hit $2.5 billion. The round may also see the participation of Some of Swiggy’s early investors, the people said.

Swiggy held talks with a host of new investors including SoftBank, growth equity firm General Atlantic and a couple of Chinese hedge funds for the new round. The Chinese funds are probably Tybourne Capital and Hillhouse Capital, a person said. ET could not independently verify the names.

The public body is also expecting Rs.32,000 capital raise via bonds guaranteed by government. J C Divakar Reddy who heads the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Food and Public distribution has reportedly seen the budget proposal to realign the planned investment by FCI to boost equity and arrange for long-term debt to plug-in the capital requirements.

“The Ministry of Finance has decided that the capital requirement for holding the stocks shall be pegged at Rs.50,000 crore, of which Rs.45,000 crore shall be financed through borrowed capital and Rs.5,000 crore through equity infusion,” the report stated.

It added that the FCI will see equity-based investment worth Rs.5,000 crore over next two years. Based on current bonds structure, FCI holds bonds of Rs.13,000 crore in value. However, it would be looking to inject additional capital of Rs.32,000 crore via government-guaranteed bonds. The capital is equity-based since FCI is governed by a special Act of Parliament instead of the Companies Act.

FCI has been directed to take preventive measures for clearing its outstanding dues from different central ministries that otherwise might put food subsidy bill under stress.

Highlighting the outstanding dues, the panel underscored Rs.2,45,296 crore which the Rural Development Ministry owe followed by the HRD and External Ministry that owes Rs.248.87 crore as on December 2017 and Rs.47.99 crore so far, respectively.

FCI’s mandate includes looking at purchases, movement, transport, distribution and sale of food grains. The body procures food grains at government rates to be supplied to states for public distribution system at subsidized rates.