Swiggy To Exit Rapido With 2.5x Returns, Valuing Ownly-Operator At Over Rs 20,000 Crore
Delivery platform Swiggy Ltd. has approved the sale of its stake in Rapido to Prosus and WestBridge for a total consideration of Rs 2,400 crore, the Instamart operator announced on Tuesday. Both Prosus and WestBridge are existing investors at the ride-hailing startup.
While Tencent-backer Prosus NV will buy Rapido shares for Rs 1,968 crore, Westbridge will pick the remaining for Rs 431.5 crore. This comes after Swiggy, following its first quarter earnings for fiscal 2026, said that the company would reconsider its Rapido stake as the cab aggregator entered the food delivery space.
As per the latest data, the Tencent-backer currently holds around 2.7% in Rapido, and around 23.3% in Swiggy. Sriharsha Majety's firm, meanwhile, holds its 12% in Rapido since 2022, which it bought for around Rs 950 crore.
"As a strategic decision, the transaction will help to realise the investments of the company, for the benefit of company and its shareholders," Swiggy wrote in an exchange notification.
The stake sale will imply a return of over 2.5 times over the course Swiggy's three-plus years of staying invested in Rapido. The amount will add on to its cash balance upon completion, even as competition heats up in the incredibly crowded quick commerce space.
Swiggy, as of June-end, held cash and equivalents of Rs 5,354 crore.
The transactions also value Rapido at over Rs 20,000 crore, marking around a two-fold increase from its last valuation of $1.1 billion, which it achieved in a 2024 fundraise.
In August, Rapido launched its standalone app 'Ownly' for food delivery. Ownly is currently live across select locations in Bengaluru, and most dishes on the platform are priced below Rs 150. The app currently includes brands like Wow!, Eatfit and Krispy Kreme and Faasos.
Rapido's food delivery app promises 'no hidden fees' on the delivery app and offers 'offline prices' for food online.
Rapido's foray into the food delivery space follows months of negotiations with restaurant partners over business models and services offered. Ownly will compete in the hotly contested food delivery space that Swiggy and Zomato currently dominate.
In 2023, Rapido had raised $180 million in a Series D round of funding led by Swiggy. "Swiggy's participation in this round will build on the synergies between the two companies," it had said back then. However, this investment lacked an exclusivity clause that could have restricted Rapido's D2C food delivery push, according to people in the know.
-
High US Salaries, No Green Card Certainty: The Financial Calculation Facing Indian H-1B Families
The suspension of PERM processing at eight technology employers does not cancel existing H-1B visas. What it does is force a question many Indian families have been avoiding: is the US salary worth tying your career and family plans to one employer?
-
Swiggy vs Eternal: Food Delivery's Two Rivals Are No Longer In The Same Race
Eternal is building a private AI assistant, dark.ai. Swiggy is still working out how to make Instamart pay, with an operating loss of Rs 895 crore in the July-September quarter while Blinkit stayed profitable.
-
Where You Live Shapes How You Get To Work | The Reason Why
Two-wheelers are the most popular way to get to work in India, accounting for nearly 43% of workplace commutes.
-
Unhedged Position: Can India See An Indonesia-Style Time Correction?
The Nifty is trading below levels it first clocked in 2024. Is there, then, as I have suggested in the headline, potential that the current time correction drags on painfully for the next three-five, even ten years?
-
Navigating Friction And Energy Realities: An Analysis Of Marco Rubio's October Visit To India
Occurring at a critical juncture marked by stalled trade negotiations and escalating geopolitical pressures over global energy supplies, the visit offers a profound window into modern US-India relations.
-
India Exports Capital. Why Not Export Trusteeship?
The big question, then, is whether India can build an institution that global borrowers, investors, banks, and lawyers can trust, even without an Indian connection.
-
France's Economy & Politics Are In Crisis | The Reason Why
Let's look at how the French economy and politics evolved under Nicolas Sarkozy, Franois Hollande and Emmanuel Macron.
-
You May Inherit The Business. You Must Earn Its Credibility.
Succession tests the founder's ability to share authority as much as it tests the next generation's readiness to assume it.
-
Signing Deals Is One Thing; Making Them Work Is Another | The Week In Whys
Sometimes, things don't turn out as planned. Indian companies have lost some bids to rivals, some projects won't produce until 2030.
-
FOMC Wall, PERM Suspension, Hospital Stocks | Talking Points This Week
A PERM suspension would directly affect green-card sponsorship rather than H-1B visas, so the near-term earnings impact could remain relatively limited. The key question is whether this marks a new phase in US scrutiny of Indian IT.