The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the investment by SoftBank Vision Fund II in food delivery giant Swiggy. The anti-monopoly watchdog wrote that the Commission has approved the proposed acquisition of a certain stake in Bundl Technologies (Swiggy) by SVF II Songbird (SoftBank Group entity).
The decision comes at when the pandemic is redefining business model and India’s startup ecosystem is witnessing IPO spree. Also, in a tactical move, Swiggy also announced the elevation of Phani Kishan as a co-founder role.
According to the sources, Japan’s SoftBank is investing $450 million in Bengaluru-based Swiggy at a $5.5 billion valuation. Last month, Masayoshi Son-led SoftBank had reached out to CCI for approval on this deal.
The funding clearance comes as Swiggy completed $800-million round in April from investors led by Falcon Edge, Amansa Capital, Think Investments, Carmignac and Goldman Sachs. The investment took the company’s valuation to $5 billion from $3.6 billion, according to the sources.
SoftBank has made it clear that its Vision Fund 2 will give a road map for its investment in India, with a total allovation of more than $4 billion in the technology sector. These sectors include edtech, healthtech, e-commerce, B2B marketplaces and software-as-a-service (SaaS).
