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India’s Swiggy said on Thursday that its food delivery business has become profitable, eclipsing its publicly-listed rival Zomato on another key metric a day before the firm is set to report its quarterly earnings.
The Bengaluru-headquartered startup — which counts Prosus Ventures, SoftBank and Invesco among its backers — became profitable in March this year, it said. It is, however, not factoring in employee stock option costs in the expense, Swiggy said.
“This is a milestone for food delivery globally, not just for us, as Swiggy has become one of the very few global food delivery platforms to achieve profitability in less than 9 years since its inception,” Swiggy co-founder and chief executive Sriharsha Majety wrote in a blog post.
Swiggy, at a company level, is still not profitable. The startup is burning more than $20 million a month on its instant grocery delivery business, called Instamart, according to two people familiar with the matter. This is after the company significantly paring back its spendings on Instamart in recent quarters.
“We have reached this milestone while bringing tremendous benefits to all partners in our ecosystem. Our core value that the customer comes first has consistently been reciprocated with deep consumer love and industry-best NPS scores, repeat and retention rates. We continue to make strides in gaining customer favour, including strong traction in Tier 2 and 3 markets.”
Thursday’s update, shared a day before Zomato is set to report its earnings, is a much-needed news for Swiggy, which in recent months has seen its valuation cut by many of its investors.
More to follow.
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