Swiggy to invest $700 mn in grocery delivery service Instamart

First launched in Bengaluru and Gurugram last year, Instamart is set to reach an annualised gross merchandise value run rate of $1 billion in the next three quarters, Swiggy said

SoftBank-backed Indian food delivery startup Swiggy said on Thursday it would invest $700 million in its grocery delivery service Instamart, to strengthen its footing in a highly competitive domestic market.

Launched in Gurugram and Bengaluru in 2020, Swiggy Instamart is now serving customers across 18 cities and doing over one million orders per week. Instamart is set to reach an annualised gross merchandise value run rate of $1 billion in the next three quarters, Swiggy said.

The service, which spans 18 cities in the country and serves more than 1 million orders per week, will also start 15-minute deliveries in top cities by January 2022.

Swiggy Chief Executive Officer Sriharsha Majety said in a statement that the company's food delivery business was currently at a $3 billion annualised gross merchandise value run rate.

"At our current growth trajectory, Instamart is set to reach an annualised GMV run rate of $1 billion in the next three quarters. With our food delivery business trending at a $3 billion annualised 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, Swiggy CEO said Sriharsha Majety said.

In the last few months, Swiggy Instamart has onboarded more than one seller-run dark store every day.

By January 2022, it will make deliveries in 15 minutes by having the network of dark stores very close to the majority of its customers, a statement said.

The platform offers an assortment of products across categories like fresh fruits and vegetables, daily bread and eggs, cooking essentials, beverages, instant food and munchies, personal and baby care, home and cleaning, specially curated to suit the demand requirements of each location.

It is available in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Coimbatore, Chandigarh, Delhi, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Kochi, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Mumbai, Noida, Pune and Vizag.
 

Home delivery companies in India were hit by a sudden pandemic-related lockdown last year as health concerns discouraged people from ordering in, but as the initial hesitancy eased, food and grocery delivery apps like Swiggy reaped the benefits of fewer people stepping out.

The Indian online grocery market is estimated to reach $18.2 billion in 2024 from $1.9 billion in 2019, according to government estimates.

Instamart competes with Tata-owned BigBasket, Grofers, in which Swiggy's larger rival Zomato Ltd holds a stake, Amazon.com Inc's Amazon Fresh and Reliance Industries' JioMart.

Separately, Bloomberg News on Wednesday reported that Swiggy is nearing a $700 million fund raise led by Invesco.