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Satisfying hunger pangs of hundred of customers everyday through its app, this 10-month-old start-up is hungry for growth.
Founded in August 2014 in Bangalore by two BITS Pilani alumni Sriharsha Majety and Nandan Reddy along with Rahul Jaimani, an IIT-Kharagpur alumnus, Swiggy has raised about $33.5 million (₹214 crore) in three rounds so far.
Swiggy could possibly be the only start-up to have closed three rounds in a surprisingly short period from investors such as SAIF Partners and Norwest Venture Partners. It is now expanding to other cities. Majety, Swiggy’s co-founder and CEO, talks to BusinessLine on the company’s growth plans. Excerpts:
How is Swiggy different from other food delivery startups?
The biggest differentiator between us and other food delivery start-ups is the fact that we have our own delivery fleet and serve from neighbourhood restaurants.
Our delivery boys are equipped with smartphones powered by routing algorithms which enables them to deliver food in the most efficient way possible.
Over two dozen start-ups have come up in the last two years in this segment. What is driving the growth?
Online food delivery is a $6-billion (₹38,000 crore approx) market in India.
It existed as an unorganised and fragmented market in India. People today are looking for convenience and quick service when it comes to online food ordering.
The combination of an existing fragmented market and today’s fast paced lifestyles is driving the growth in this segment.
Does this also mean consolidation will happen in this segment soon?
Currently the untapped market in this segment is huge and there’s a lot of potential for multiple players in this segment.
Given the huge size of the market and lack of a clear national player in this segment, there’s scope for multiple players to co exist in this market over the foreseeable future.
What are the interesting trends that we can see going forward?
Discovery of restaurants will continue to be a key part of the online ordering experience. However, there will be a focus on speedy and timely deliveries going forward because customers will demand it. Technology will also play a role in differentiating players in this space going forward.
What are your plans for the next 18 months? Will there be any acquisitions?
The plan is to expand at the current pace. We intend to spread our presence both across and within cities in the country.
The focus will be on growth and customer acquisition. Customer focus will continue to remain a key tent of our philosophy.
What is the current team strength and what your hiring plans?
We are currently at 300+ people across multiple geographies and are expanding currently.
The number of people we hire will be a direct function of the growth we achieve in the coming months.
We do have aggressive growth targets in mind so we will be looking to hire people across multiple functions for the next few months.
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