Swiggy—the only foodtech decacorn—has chalked out plans to get the company ready for a public listing later this year, according to two people aware of the details of internal discussions. This comes at a time when several tech companies in India have delayed their IPOs, after releasing a DRHP.
“Swiggy has put a plan in place to be ready for IPO by September this year,” said one of the sources, requesting anonymity. “But it would take another 6-8 months to file pre IPO documents with regulators in India.”
According to sources, Swiggy has a definitive direction by the board to list on the Indian stock exchange after the third quarter of 2024.
This move also means Swiggy will join its competitor Zomato in the public markets.
As part of listing plans, Swiggy has brought down its monthly burn in their food delivery business under $5 million, as per sources. “The company has set a target to break-even in the food delivery segment by April-May this year,” said the second source who also requested anonymity as talks are private.
Queries sent to Swiggy yesterday didn’t elicit any response. We will update the story in case they respond.
On Monday, the firm also appointed three independent directors on its board: TAFE’s Mallika Srinivasan, Haribhakti & Associates’ Shailesh Haribhakti, and Delhivery’s Sahil Barua. Sources say these appointments further indicate Swiggy’s IPO preparations.
“By early next year, Swiggy also set a target to make a sizable profit from its food delivery segment so that it can fund its grocery vertical InstaMart without external capital,” said the person quoted above.
While FY23 is only a month away to end, Swiggy’s gross revenue spiked 2.2X to Rs 5,705 crore during the last fiscal year (FY22). Its annual losses also shot up 2.2X to Rs 3,629 crore in the same period.
To cut costs amidst a challenging funding environment, the firm laid-off 380 employees in January and pulled the plug from meat marketplace.
