According to reports in foreign media, Indian meal delivery platform Zomato recently gained USD150 million investment from its current investor Ant Financial.
After the investment, the valuation of this Indian online food delivery and restaurant review platform will reach USD3 billion. Prior to this, its valuation was USD2 billion.
An insider revealed that the USD150 million investment is a part of the company's USD500 million financing round, which is expected to be closed in the next two months.
Ant Financial is a subsidiary of the Chinese Internet giant Alibaba Group. Regulatory documents show that in 2018, Ant Financial acquired 14.7% shares of Zomato and the Chinese company increased its shareholding to 23% in November 2018.
The new investments will help Zomato fight its major competitor Swiggy. Swiggy gained USD1 billion investments in 2017 and its investors included Naspers, Tencent, Hillhouse Capital, and Wellington Management Company.
During the 2019 financial year, Zomato's operating revenue was INR13.97 billion and it made losses of INR10.01 billion. The company's main losses were spent on advertising and marketing.
