Swiggy, the fastest growing online food ordering platform, has acquired the gourmet food startup 48East. In order to broaden its senior leadership, the company also brought on board the management of 48East. Swiggy, based in Bengaluru, is looking to serve its consumers more efficiently and consequently grow in the market.
Founded by Joseph Cherian and Nabhojit Ghosh in August 2016, 48East provides Asian gourmet food at an affordable price to consumers. Both the founders will be joining Swiggy’s board while Cherian will be the new chief operating officer for Swiggy Access launched last month. Meanwhile, Reckitt Benckiser’s Vishal Bhatia will head the food delivery startup’s new supply business. Currently, 48East operates two kitchens in Bengaluru, in Indiranagar and Marathahalli processing over 100 orders per day.
48East managed to raise $ 250,000 angel funding in August 2016 from Agra based ACPL exports. Recently, the company also raised $ 500,000 in a pre Series A funding round, from the Al Dhaheri family based in the UAE.
Speaking about the acquisition, the Chief Executive Officer of Swiggy, Sriharsha Majety said, “With their deep understanding of the food space and an impressive track record of delivering a great consumer experience, the 48East team will equip Swiggy with additional capabilities. We are excited to work with them towards our vision of changing the way India eats.”
In the last three years, Swiggy acquired a delivery fleet of over 20,000 people. In November this year reports also suggested Japanese conglomerate SoftBank was reportedly in talks with the foodtech startup to invest $ 200 million to $ 250 million in exchange for minority shares. The company, according to sources, would be valued between $ 600 million to $ 650 million before the investment. In the last fiscal year, Swiggy reported a massive 6 fold leap in revenue from $ 3.6 million (Rs. 23.6 crores) in the financial year 2016 to $ 20.6 million (Rs. 133 crores.) At present, along with Swiggy, foodtech startups such as Zomato and UberEats are competing for the lucrative restaurant discovery and food delivery industry.