The family office of Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan has picked up a small stake in Swiggy by purchasing shares held by the food-delivery and quick-commerce firm’s employees and early investors, people aware of the matter said.
Motilal Oswal Financial Services chairman Raamdeo Agrawal has also acquired a stake in Swiggy, at a time when quick commerce is at an all-time high in terms of fundraising.
Interestingly, Agrawal has also picked up a stake in quick-commerce firm Zepto through its $665 million funding round little over a month ago, people aware of the matter said.
While the amounts they invested are not known, these are sizable cheques for individual investors, the people told ET.
These secondary share sales are believed to have happened by assigning a valuation of around $10-11 billion to the company, as per people briefed on the matter. Agrawal’s investment in both Swiggy – which runs the Instamart quick-commerce platform — as well as Zepto underscores the rapid growth of quick commerce and the future potential market investors see in the sector.
Discover the stories of your interest
Agrawal declined to comment, while Bachchan’s family office did not respond to an email seeking comment. Swiggy didn’t respond to ET’s query, and Zepto declined to comment.Swiggy rival Zomato’s turnaround and the growth of its Blinkit quick-commerce platform have turned the focus on the sector, “which is why investors are placing these bets”, an investor aware of the matter said. “Swiggy is in a very advanced stage of going public, while Zepto has outlined plans in the next few years too.”
Also Read | BigBasket set to fully play in quick commerce league
“Blinkit offers a generational opportunity to participate in the disruption of industries such as retail, grocery and ecommerce,” a research note from Motilal Oswal said on August 2.
Swiggy is lining up for a $1.25 billion IPO.
Mumbai-based Zepto is in the final stages of closing a $300-350 million round at a $5 billion post-money valuation, taking total fundraising to $1 billion.
Swiggy investor 360 One WAM’s had valued Bengaluru-based Swiggy at $11.5 billion as of June, ET reported on August 23 citing an internal note of 360 One WAM. According to the note, Swiggy recorded Rs 7,474 crore in revenue in the first half of fiscal 2024.
Secondary transactions typically happen at a discount to the last primary valuation. Swiggy was last valued at $10.7 billion in 2022, but various investors now value it between $11.5 billion and just under $15 billion. A surge in Zomato’s stock over the past couple of months has added to these valuation reviews. Gurugram-based Zomato has a market capitalisation of around $28 billion, of which $15 billion is now ascribed to Blinkit.
Also Read | Zomato market cap nears $30 billion as Blinkit, Hyperpure deliver stellar growth
Blinkit continues to expand aggressively while BigBasket has announced a pivot fully to quick commerce and Flipkart has started rolling its Minutes in New Delhi and Mumbai after launching the quick-commerce service in Bengaluru earlier this month.