Sriharsha Majety, CEO & co-founder of Swiggy, has said in an interview that the company is experimenting with few hyperlocal categories, which is among several new initiatives that the India’s largest online food ordering startup has planned for going beyond just food ordering and delivering.
“We’ve been closely observing our consumers’ lives and we feel that there are some unique capabilities that we have that can take a shot at solving more problems, even outside the realm of food. You’ll see us start making small forays into new areas,” said Majety in an interview.
This confirms a report we published in April this year, according to which Swiggy, in coming months, will launch new hyperlocal service called 'Dash', to deliver medicines and grocery.
Additionally, Swiggy is also working on a new loyalty program to retain its fleet of several thousands of delivery executives, said Majety.
Notably, since start of this year Hyperlocal delivery startups are grabbing investor eyeballs again with startups in this segment raising a total of $82.6 million in funding, in first half of 2018 - according YourStory research. In June, Bangalore-based hyperlocal delivery startup Dailyninja raised $3 Mn in a funding by Saama Capital.
According to market research firm, Ken Research in its latest publication on “India Hyperlocal Market Outlook to 2020 - Driven by Rising Startups Firms and Fluctuating Investments”, the India Hyperlocal market will grow at a considerable CAGR rate thus exceeding INR 2,306 crore by 2020
This year, Swiggy raised a total of $301 million in two rounds - $100 Mn from Naspers and China’s Meituan, in February; and, $210 million from Naspers and DST Global, in June. This made Swiggy to join elite club of Unicorns - aka startups with a valuation of $1 billion+ - and values Swiggy at roughly $1.3 billion, surpassing rival Zomato’s $1.1 billion valuation.
Founded in 2014, by Majety, Nandan Reddy and Rahul Jaimini, Swiggy is one of the fastest entrants into the unicorn club and raised a total of $465 million since it started.
According to Swiggy's latest regulatory filings, the company reported revenue of roughly Rs 133 crore, while losses widened to Rs 205 crore in the 2016-17 financial year.