Swiggy to pour $700m into quick commerce arm

Swiggy, an India-based food delivery unicorn, will invest US$700 million in its express grocery delivery service Instamart.

Photo credit: Swiggy

Rolled out last year, Swiggy Instamart currently serves customers across 18 cities. The SoftBank-backed company also said that the service is doing over 1 million orders per week.

In the last few months, Swiggy Instamart has onboarded more than one seller-run dark store each day, the company said. The service is set to reach an annualized gross merchandise value (GMV) run rate of US$1 billion in the next three quarters.

“With our food delivery business trending at a US$3 billion annualized GMV run rate, and Instamart’s super-charged growth, we’re very excited about our convenience mission coming to life in a very big way,” said Sriharsha Majety, CEO of Swiggy, in a statement.

According to a RedSeer report, India’s quick commerce industry is slated to become a US$5 billion market by 2025.

Tiger Global-backed Zomato is also reportedly in talks to invest US$500 million in Grofers to step up its quick commerce play.