Swiggy Lost More Than Rs 6 Crore A Day In 2018-19

Swiggy’s losses widened in 2018-19 as the online food delivery firm ramped up its services to stave off competition from rival Zomato.

Bundl Technologies Pvt. Ltd., the operator of Swiggy, posted a loss of Rs 2,364 crore in the year ended March 31, 2019, according to documents filed with the Registrar of Companies. That widened sixfold from Rs 397 crore in the previous fiscal.

What that means is that Swiggy lost Rs 6.4 crore a day. By comparison, its rival Zomato Group lost Rs 5.4 crore a day in FY19—driven by Rs 2,035-crore losses during the fiscal at its India business.

The spike in Swiggy’s losses came as it spent aggressively on delivery, salaries, marketing initiatives and expanding to smaller towns. At Rs 1,594 crore in FY19, delivery cost was the biggest expense for the food ordering firm, according to RoC data. Employee expenses stood at Rs 544 crore whereas advertising and marketing spend was Rs 778 crore.

The unicorn introduced newer verticals like on-demand grocery delivery with Swiggy Stores, a pick-and-drop service to send packages anywhere within a city through SwiggyGo and a subscription-based milk delivery service via SuprDaily.

The food ordering company’s revenue, however, jumped threefold to Rs 1,297 crore.

Also Read: Swiggy Makes Another Cash-Guzzling Bet With Grocery Delivery To Courier Services

India’s meal delivery market, according to Statista, generated $7.7 billion in annual revenue in 2019. Swiggy and Zomato, which together raised $2 billion from investors last year, dominate the market while competing with well-funded Uber Eats.

Swiggy, which counts Prosus, DST Global, China’s Meituan-Dianping, among other as investors, is the most-funded food tech platform in the country.

2018-19 was a “strong year” for the company, Swiggy said in an emailed statement. “We saw a 4.2x increase in order volumes and a 2.8x increase in operating revenue despite a higher baseline, underscoring our ability to grow in a sustainable manner over the long term,” it said, adding that the firm also made many strategic bets and invested in technology, brand and supply creation.