Food delivery goes on the boil

Players in this space have stayed away from splurging money on discounts, but the entry of Ola and Uber could change that

Indian start-ups got a lesson in business acumen over the past 18 months as they saw their food tech counterparts shed flab and focus on growth rather than throwing money to buy customer loyalty.

Financial discipline helped the three large food tech players in the market today — Swiggy, Zomato and Foodpanda — emerge as strong players in the meltdown and earn back the trust of investors.

Zomato raised $20 million from existing investors in April, followed by Swiggy raising $80 million in May. Foodpanda’s then owner Rocket Internet said it would invest a portion of the $431 million raised from Naspers