Indian food delivery start-up Swiggy raised $1.25 billion in a new funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and its existing investors Prosus, Accel Partners and Wellington Management.
The new round, which Swiggy said was “highly oversubscribed”, valued the company at $5.5bn.
Other investors including Qatar Investment Authority, Falcon Edge Capital, Amansa Capital, Goldman Sachs, Think Investments and Carmignac also participated in the round.
Our biggest investments will be in our non-food businesses that has witnessed tremendous consumer love and growth in a short span
Sriharsha Majety,
Swiggy’s chief executive
The investment will be used to accelerate Swiggy’s “multi-year strategy of growing its core food delivery business” and “building new food and non-food adjacencies”, the start-up said. The funds will also help it to invest in new technologies and strengthen its engineering, supply chain, product and data analytics teams.
Swiggy and other tech start-ups in India are benefitting from a massive influx of funding. Investors are flocking to tap into a digital boom as the country's more than 500 million internet users increasingly turn to online channels amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Earlier this month, Swiggy's rival Zomato launched a $1.3bn initial public offering while Walmart-backed e-commerce company Flipkart raised a record $3.6bn to fuel its expansion.
“The participation of some of the most visionary global investors is a huge vote of confidence … the next 10-15 years offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for companies like Swiggy as the Indian middle class expands and our target segment for convenience grows to 500 million users,” Sriharsha Majety, Swiggy’s chief executive, said.
“Our biggest investments will be in our non-food businesses that has witnessed tremendous consumer love and growth in a short span, especially in the past 15 months of the pandemic.”
Founded in 2014, Swiggy is an on-demand delivery platform that connects consumers to more than 150,000 restaurants and stores in over 500 cities.
In the past year, it has launched many new services to diversify its offerings and to minimise the damage caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Swiggy's instant grocery delivery service, Instamart, is also growing rapidly, the company said.
We are continually impressed by the solid business that Swiggy has built
Larry Illg,
chief executive of Prosus Food
The start-up has also expanded its pick-up and drop service, Swiggy Genie, to 65 cities and deepened the presence of its meat delivery service in key markets.
“Swiggy’s focus on evolving the consumer experience and its emphasis on relationships with its delivery partners and restaurants have made it a household brand in India,” Munish Varma, managing partner of SoftBank Investment Advisers, said.
“We are excited to partner with Swiggy as they increase their service offerings and daily consumer touchpoints in the rapidly developing digital economy,” added Mr Varma.
The funding round also marked SoftBank Vision Fund 2's first investment in the Indian food delivery sector.
India's food-tech industry is poised to grow between 25 per cent and 30 per cent annually to reach $8bn by 2023, from $4bn last year, according to a report by Google and Boston Consulting Group. However, competition in the sector is rife, with many food delivery start-ups burning cash to maintain market share and build a loyal customer base.
Amazon also entered the food delivery market in India last year but its operations are currently limited to Bangalore.
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Citizenship-by-investment programmes
United Kingdom
The UK offers three programmes for residency. The UK Overseas Business Representative Visa lets you open an overseas branch office of your existing company in the country at no extra investment. For the UK Tier 1 Innovator Visa, you are required to invest £50,000 (Dh238,000) into a business. You can also get a UK Tier 1 Investor Visa if you invest £2 million, £5m or £10m (the higher the investment, the sooner you obtain your permanent residency).
All UK residency visas get approved in 90 to 120 days and are valid for 3 years. After 3 years, the applicant can apply for extension of another 2 years. Once they have lived in the UK for a minimum of 6 months every year, they are eligible to apply for permanent residency (called Indefinite Leave to Remain). After one year of ILR, the applicant can apply for UK passport.
The Caribbean
Depending on the country, the investment amount starts from $100,000 (Dh367,250) and can go up to $400,000 in real estate. From the date of purchase, it will take between four to five months to receive a passport.
Portugal
The investment amount ranges from €350,000 to €500,000 (Dh1.5m to Dh2.16m) in real estate. From the date of purchase, it will take a maximum of six months to receive a Golden Visa. Applicants can apply for permanent residency after five years and Portuguese citizenship after six years.
“Among European countries with residency programmes, Portugal has been the most popular because it offers the most cost-effective programme to eventually acquire citizenship of the European Union without ever residing in Portugal,” states Veronica Cotdemiey of Citizenship Invest.
Greece
The real estate investment threshold to acquire residency for Greece is €250,000, making it the cheapest real estate residency visa scheme in Europe. You can apply for residency in four months and citizenship after seven years.
Spain
The real estate investment threshold to acquire residency for Spain is €500,000. You can apply for permanent residency after five years and citizenship after 10 years. It is not necessary to live in Spain to retain and renew the residency visa permit.
Cyprus
Cyprus offers the quickest route to citizenship of a European country in only six months. An investment of €2m in real estate is required, making it the highest priced programme in Europe.
Malta
The Malta citizenship by investment programme is lengthy and investors are required to contribute sums as donations to the Maltese government. The applicant must either contribute at least €650,000 to the National Development & Social Fund. Spouses and children are required to contribute €25,000; unmarried children between 18 and 25 and dependent parents must contribute €50,000 each.
The second step is to make an investment in property of at least €350,000 or enter a property rental contract for at least €16,000 per annum for five years. The third step is to invest at least €150,000 in bonds or shares approved by the Maltese government to be kept for at least five years.
Candidates must commit to a minimum physical presence in Malta before citizenship is granted. While you get residency in two months, you can apply for citizenship after a year.
Egypt
A one-year residency permit can be bought if you purchase property in Egypt worth $100,000. A three-year residency is available for those who invest $200,000 in property, and five years for those who purchase property worth $400,000.
Source: Citizenship Invest and Aqua Properties