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South African media giant Naspers says its $660-million investment in online food delivery platform Swiggy demonstrates the company’s commitment to multiple sectors in India.
Naspers’ investment made up the bulk of a $1-billion investment in Swiggy, announced on Thursday, that also included Chinese giant Tencent and several others.
Tencent has a 31 per vent stake in Naspers, which is Africa’s largest company with a market capitalisation of 1.23 trillion rand. Naspers earlier led a $540-million investment in Indian online learning app Byju.
“Indian online consumers will be significant drivers of online growth in the world, and in addition to food and education, Naspers’ investments and operations in India include online classifieds business, OLX; MakeMyTrip, the leading online travel company; and payments company, PayU, Naspers said in a statement.
The quality of the best Indian entrepreneurs and their ability to build innovative businesses that address the unique needs of the Indian consumer offer unparalleled growth opportunities, Naspers added.
“We first partnered with Swiggy in April 2017, because we recognised the Swiggy team had built a sustainable, long-term business, that stood out amongst others in India,” said Larry Illg, CEO, Food and Ventures, Naspers.
“Now, nearly two years later, we have even more confidence that Swiggy has the winning formula and will continue to build a leading business in the country.
“Our latest round of capital will help accelerate Swiggy’s journey towards its vision of providing unmatched convenience in food ordering and delivery for Indian consumers,” Illg said.
“As we add more firepower to our vision of elevating the quality of life for urban consumers by offering unparalleled convenience, we’re pleased that visionary global investors share our purpose and have made such a significant investment in our future,” said Swiggy CEO Sriharsha Majety.
Swiggy will use the latest funding to expand further in India, to bring more quality food brands closer to consumers and address gaps in supply through delivery-only kitchens under the ‘Access’ initiative for restaurant partners.
Additionally, Swiggy will use the capital to hire top-notch talent, especially for machine learning and engineering roles across the mid and senior levels.
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