India’s Swiggy said on Thursday that its food delivery business has turned profitable, surpassing its publicly traded rival Zomato on another key metric a day before the company is set to report its quarterly earnings.
The Bengaluru-headquartered startup — which counts Prosus Ventures, SoftBank and Invesco among its backers — turned profitable in March this year, it said. However, it doesn’t account for the cost of employee stock options in the cost, Swiggy said.
“This is a milestone for food delivery worldwide, not just for us, as Swiggy has become one of the few global food delivery platforms to become profitable in less than 9 years since its inception,” says Swiggy co-founder and CEO Sriharsha Majety. wrote in a blog post.
Swiggy is still not profitable on a corporate level. According to two people familiar with the matter, the startup is wasting more than $20 million a month on its instant grocery delivery company, called Instamart. This is after the company significantly reduced its spending on Instamart in recent quarters.
“We have reached this milestone and bring huge benefits to all partners in our ecosystem. Our core value of putting the customer first has been consistently met with deep love for the consumer and the industry’s best NPS, repeat and retention rates. We continue to make progress in winning customer favor, including strong traction in Tier 2 and 3 markets.”
Thursday’s update, a day before Zomato will report its earnings, is much-needed news for Swiggy, which has seen its valuation lowered by many of its investors in recent months.
More to follow.
