SoftBank may serve up fresh funds to the tune of $300-500 million for Swiggy

Bengaluru: Food delivery startup Swiggy is in advanced talks to raise as much as $1 billion from investors, including $300-500 million from SoftBank Group, stealing a march on rival Zomato, which was also wooing the Japanese firm for a mega investment, four people familiar with the development said.

If the deal goes through, it will be SoftBank’s first direct investment in a food tech business in India. It has been in talks with the two leading food tech rivals, Swiggy and Zomato, since August.

“SoftBank wasn’t sure who the clear winner was between Swiggy and Zomato (at that time). It found the valuation of both companies very high,” said one of the people cited above, requesting anonymity. What probably tilted things in Swiggy’s favour was its fast ramp-up and an investment validation from Naspers in December.