Zomato seems to be inching closer towards second fundraising round of this year. China’s online traveling behemoth Ctrip is reportedly planning to invest $100 Mn in the Gurgaon based foodtech startup. The total fundraising amount is touted to be around $400 Mn, with existing investor Ant Financial (owned by Alibaba) also likely to contribute to the round.
People familiar with the matter claimed that Zomato’s discussion with Ctrip has reached final stage and China’s online traveling company is likely to infuse $100 Mn in the food delivery company. This joint venture may go beyond financial dynamics. Both companies may explore synergies of mutual benefits, sources add.
For people who don’t know, Ctrip is one of the biggest names in the online traveling space. Boosting a market capitalization of more than $20 Bn, the Nasdaq listed firm is counted amongst global players like Expedia and TripAdvisor.
Investment in Zomato will mark Ctrip’s second investment in India and first in non-online traveling space. The company is already an equity investor in online traveling startup Make My Trip.
Zomato is also likely to benefit from Ctrip’s inclusion in its board of director team. The Gurgaon based startup is likely to push for international presence by leveraging Ctrip’s global network.
Foodtech sector is buzzing with unprecedented action
Not long time back India’s foodtech sector appeared to be almost dead. But that is history now, today the same sector is buzzing with action and beaming with hope. From fundraising to acquisition, the sector is witnessing all the actions that essentially hint towards intense competition in coming months.
Of course, most of these actions have been spearheaded by Zomato and Swiggy –two of the most dominant players in the foodtech sector. However, FoodPanda and UberEat are also leading the charge by pursuing investment and expansion talks.
Below are some of the top actions that India’s foodtech sector has recently witnessed
- Last week Zomato acquired catering aggregator TongueStun in $18 Mn
- Swiggy is reportedly on the verge of receiving a fat cheque from Chinese internet giant Tencent. If the round goes through, it will be Bengaluru based startup’s third fundraising round this year.
- Swiggy’s biggest investor Naspers is reported to be in talks to invest in HungerBox
- Swiggy acquires on demand delivery startup Scootsy.
- Both Zomato and Swiggy are reportedly wooing SoftBank for investment. The Japanese investment giant, however, is still undecided over which company to prefer for investment.
- FoodPanda, which is owned by Ola, is reportedly pursing acquisition talks with defunct startup Holachef.
- UberEat is separately pursuing expansion plan across India.