Indian food delivery firm Swiggy raises $1 billion in Naspers-led funding round

MUMBAI/BENGALURU (Reuters) - Online food delivery service provider Swiggy said it has raised $1 billion in its latest funding round, led by South African internet giant Naspers Ltd.

Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings Ltd, Hillhouse Capital and Wellington Management Company took part in the funding round, together with Swiggy's existing investors, DST Global, Meituan Dianping and Coatue Management.

Swiggy, based in the southern Indian tech hub of Bengaluru, is valued at a little over $3 billion after this funding round, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The company did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the valuation.

Swiggy will use the funds to hire and strengthen its technology backbone, the company said.

The firm, which runs a mobile-based application and a website for food-delivery services, currently operates in more than 50 Indian cities.

It competes with homegrown Ola-owned Foodpanda, Uber's food delivery service, and China's Ant Financial Group-backed Zomato, which is valued at over $1 billion.

Swiggy has raised a total of $1.26 billion since it was founded in 2014, including the latest round.

(Reporting by Sankalp Phartiyal in MUMBAI and Krishna V Kurup in BENGALURU; Editing by Himani Sarkar)