India's corporate presence is unusually visible at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos this year, with founders and CEOs fielding questions on growth, capital and competitiveness. Among them is Swiggy, coming off a Rs 10,000-crore fundraise and navigating intensifying competition in quick commerce. In his conversation with NDTV Profit's Tamanna Inamdar from Davos, Rohit Kapoor, CEO of Swiggy's Food Marketplace, pushed back against speculation that the company may need to tap markets again soon.
"We've been very clear in our prospectus on what the funds are for," Kapoor said. "Food delivery is already profitable and throwing cash. This capital gives us strength to be competitive — not runway. There is no discussion around another fundraise at all."
He said questions around fresh capital are largely a by-product of rising competition rather than any internal funding stress.
Competition Was Always Part of the Story
With more players eyeing listings and aggressive expansion, Kapoor said Swiggy's leadership is unfazed. "We were born in competition," he said. "Ten years ago there were eight to ten food delivery players. Even five or six years ago, there were three credible ones. Any sector this attractive and this large will see competition."
What matters more, he argued, is the pace at which the category itself is expanding. Swiggy's quick commerce offering has grown from roughly 6,000–8,000 SKUs to over 50,000 in under two years — a signal of how quickly consumer expectations are shifting. "The total addressable market is so huge that competition isn't our worry," Kapoor said. "The focus is always on what we can do for the customer."
Growth, AOVs and the Profitability Question
On growth metrics, Kapoor said Swiggy is seeing momentum on multiple fronts.
"We are seeing a lot of new-to-category customers coming in, and equally, average order values have gone up quite sharply over the last 18 months," he said, calling higher AOVs a 'strength for the business'.
Profitability in quick commerce, he added, is a question of sequencing rather than feasibility. "Food is profitable. Our going-out business is profitable. This will be too," Kapoor said. "It depends on when we turn contribution-margin positive and how aggressively we invest."
10-Minute Delivery and Gig Worker Concerns
Addressing criticism around ultra-fast deliveries and worker welfare, Kapoor rejected the premise that speed is driven by risk.
"You cannot go faster in Indian cities — traffic makes that impossible," he said. "Quick commerce works because of store density, technology and short distances, not fast driving." He described gig work as India's “third pillar of livelihoods” and said Swiggy treats worker welfare as fundamental. "They have choices, and we have to compete for their time," Kapoor said.
Also Read: India Isn't Losing The AI Race — Its Gaining A Bigger Opportunity, Says Investcorp's Rishi Kapoor
Watch LIVE TV, Get Stock Market Updates, Top Business, IPO and Latest News on NDTV Profit.
