As merger reports of Bengaluru-based Swiggy and Gurugram-based Zomato resurfaced, Deepinder Goyal-led Zomato refuted reports, saying they are not in talks with anyone.
“We have tremendous focus on our business metrics and have seen great success in our goal towards profitability. We are not in talks with Swiggy for a merger or acquisition,” a company spokesperson said in a statement shared with IANS.
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In 2017, media reports had surfaced that the two players were in merger talks.
The Zomato spokesperson further said that the latest “speculation is absolutely untrue”. Swiggy, however, refused to comment on the report.
Amazon is gearing up to launch its own online food delivery division to compete with food delivery apps in the Indian market.
According to Prabhu Ram, Head-Industry Intelligence Group (IIG), CMR, the food delivery business is no longer a two-horse race and is increasingly witnessing the cut-throat competition.
“With the entry of new players, including the likes of Amazon and Uber Eats, a potential merger of Zomato and Swiggy would make sense,” Ram told IANS.
The company’s revenue for the first half of the financial year 2019-20 saw a massive three-fold jump — from $63 million in the same period in 2018-2019 to $205 million. Zomato is currently present in 556 cities.
Swiggy has expanded its services to 500 cities in India, matching rival Zomato’s reach in the country. Swiggy, which has added 60,000 new restaurants in the past six months, said in October it would expand to 600 cities by December 2019.
Since April 2019, Swiggy has increased the number of restaurant partners by almost 1.8 times to 1.4 lakh restaurants currently. In tier-3 and tier-4 cities specifically, Swiggy has on-boarded over 15,000 restaurants in the last six months.
In the next three years, the food tech industry in India is going to grow from $4 billion to $15 billion.
“This industry is perfect for Uber Eats. Right now, we are more focused on delivery with the restaurant partners. We are learning in the India market and making our mark in that space before we can add anything more to it,” Kotecha told IANS.
(With Agency Inputs)