Zomato completes primary fundraise worth $660 million

As Zomato sets its sights on an initial share sale in the first half of 2021, Zomato has completed its primary fundraise worth $660 million giving the company a valuation of $3.9 billion.

10 new investors that also joined Zomato included Tiger Global Management, Baillie Gifford, Luxor Capital, Kora Capital, Steadview, D1 Capital and Mirae Asset, said Zomato founder and chief executive Deepinder Goyal. Zomato is also raising $140 million as a part of a secondary transaction.

As a part of this final fundraise before its IPO, Zomato has provided liquidity worth $30 million to its former employees.

The start-up has been on a fund-raising spree to bolster its cash reserves as it looks to build a war-chest for future acquisitions as well as to fight any possible price wars in the coming months. The current valuation makes Zomato the most-valued food tech unicorn in the Indian startup ecosystem, surpassing competitor Swiggy, which is valued at $3.3 billion.

Last November, Zomato had made takeaway service commissions free on its platform to boost business for offline restaurants.The company also claimed that the gross merchandise value run rate of food orders on its platform was 110% of that in the months before the pandemic.

Last month, Zomato also said that it has delivered more than 130 million orders since the start of the first lockdown imposed in March to contain the spread of coronavirus.