South Africa’s Naspers Leads USD 1 Bn Round In Indian FoodTech Startup Swiggy
Just three days after announcing its big round in India’s Edtech startup Byju’s; Naspers today announced another investment in yet another Indian startup; Swiggy. Naspers is leading the Series H in the Foodtech startup with an investment of USD 660 Mn. The round includes participation from several existing investors including DST Global, Meituan Dianping and Coatue Management, along with new investors Tencent, Hillhouse Capital and Wellington Management.
The internet and entertainment giant first partnered with Swiggy in April last year. In a recent post on its website, Naspers considers these investment rounds as its commitment to Indian startups.
“We first partnered with Swiggy in April 2017 because we recognized the Swiggy team had built a sustainable, long-term business, that stood out amongst others in India. Now, nearly two years later, we have even more confidence Swiggy has the winning formula and will continue to build a leading business in the country. Swiggy now has ten times the number of orders per month since our first investment, has expanded throughout India to tier 1, 2 and 3 cities, and most importantly, is the most loved food delivery brand in India, providing the best service to consumers nationwide,” said Larry Illg, CEO Food and Ventures, Naspers.
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In the last few years, Naspers has expanded its food delivery portfolio in over 40 countries across the globe as it considers this sector a highly under-penetrated one. The company Foodtech portfolio includes such companies as Germany’s Delivery Hero, iFood from Brazil, and Mr. D Food in South Africa.
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South Africa, interestingly, has a rather nascent market when it comes to the FoodTech sector with primarily 3 players – Uber Eats, OrderIn and Mr D foods. For Naspers, Mr. D has been showing promise in South Africa, as indicated by an increase in its GMV by 200%. Two months back, Naspers had expressed its interest in the South African technology sector by launching a USD 300 Mn fund. However, it remains to be seen which companies will be targeted as recipients of the fund.
