Baron boosts Swiggy valuation to $12.16B, above prior private market value

Baron Capital, an investor in Indian food delivery startup Swiggy, has increased the value of its stake in the Indian firm, implying a valuation of $12.16 billion, surpassing the $10.7 billion post-money valuation at which Swiggy secured funding in early 2022.

New York-based Baron Capital disclosed in new fillings (PDF) that it has marked up the value of its stake in Bengaluru-based Swiggy to $87.2 million, an increase from its original investment of $76.7 million in the food delivery platform.

The valuation uptick at the end of December is a noteworthy development for Swiggy and, more broadly, the Indian startup ecosystem. This is particularly significant given that Swiggy’s valuation had previously been marked down to a low of $5.5 billion.

Swiggy commands roughly 45% market share in the Indian food delivery sector and is “well positioned to benefit from structural growth in online food delivery in India,” Baron Capital wrote (PDF) in a separate filing.

It added: “We believe India’s food delivery industry is still in its infancy and will continue to scale over the next several years thanks to a growing middle class, rising disposable income, higher smartphone penetration and structural shifts in consumer preferences driven by a tech-savvy, younger population. The industry has also become a duopoly between Swiggy and Zomato, which bodes well for the future profitability and scale of the company.”

Swiggy reported last year that it had pared its expenses and its food delivery business had turned profitable, a feat it has maintained since. The startup plans to file for an IPO later this year.

Shares of Zomato, Swiggy’s chief rival, have surged in the past six months as the Gurgaon-headquartered firm improves its finances. Zomato had a market cap of about $17 billion.

Swiggy, which is also a key player in the instant-grocery delivery space in India, is increasingly broadening its offerings. Swiggy — which counts Prosus Ventures, Accel and SoftBank among its backers — is expanding into consumer electronics and other categories, targeting a larger share of the e-commerce market by offering 20-minute delivery for all purchases.

Walmart-backed Flipkart, which leads e-commerce in India, in the meantime, is planning to enter the instant-delivery space, TechCrunch reported Thursday.