[Funding Alert] Zomato Raises $150 million From Ant FinancialZomato's top shareholder Info Edge (India) stake will drop to 25.13 per cent from 26.38 per cent after the funding

Gurgaon-based restaurant aggregator and food delivery major Zomato has raised $150 million dollars from Alibaba affiliate Chinese investor Ant Financial. A Zomato spokesperson confirmed the news toEntrepreneur India. He said, "We confirm that we have raised $150 million from Ant Financial as a part of a larger round. Ant Financial has been a steadfast partner in our journey towards achieving market leadership in on-demand food delivery in India, and dining out globally."

Zomato was valued as $3 billion in this investment round. Ant financial has been an investor in Zomato since February 2018, when it picked up 14.7 per cent stake. In November 2019 after participating in another round of funding, it increased its stake to 23 per cent.

Fierce Competition

The latest round of funding will help Zomato further expand its operations and compete with rivals Swiggy and Uber Eats. Last year Zomato has also faced protests and backlash from restaurant associations, including the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) who accused Zomato of unfair trade practices by offering deep discounts to dining out customers under its Zomato Gold plan.

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Bengaluru based Swiggy's largest investor is South Africa-headquartered Naspers which almost holds 40 per cent stakes in the startup.

Reducing Cashburn

Zomato started as a restaurant aggregating platform and over the years has entered into food delivery sector, causing a lot of cashburn. In 2019, Zomato recorded a loss of $294 million in the March filing compared with a loss of $12 million a year earlier.

However, the company claims to have more than halved its cash burn to under $20 million a month from $45 million.

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