Zomato has raised $150 million (Indian equivalent of Rs 1,050 crore) from existing investor Ant Financial, peaking the food delivery platform’s valuation to $3 billion (Rs 2,100 crore), The Economic Times reported.
The online food delivery and restaurant discovery platform was valued at $2 billion after it sold its UAE business to German company Delivery Hero for $172 million (Indian equivalent of Rs 1,220 crore) and raised $105 million last year.
Moneycontrol couldn’t independently verify the report.
This infusion is part of the startup’s $500 million funding round due to end in March, sources confirmed to CNBC-TV18.
Ant, which is affiliated with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, had raised its stake in Zomato to 23 percent in November 2018. The move is significant as reports emerged in December last year that Zomato is in talks to acquire UberEats India in a $300 million stock-swap.
Sources told CNBC-TV18 that the funding paves the way for Zomato's deal with Uber Eats, which would help the company expand into 550 cities and boost its presence in the southern markets."The Zomato-Uber Eats deal could close by January-end," a source added.
The funding push comes amid nationwide protests by restaurants, partners and industry associations against Zomato’s 'deep discounting' policies; and will also help bolster the company against competitor Swiggy.
Swiggy had in 2017 raised $1billion from existing backer Naspers, and brought onboard Chinese companies Tencent and Hillhouse Capital, and US-based Wellington Management.
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