BENGALURU (Reuters) - Indian food delivery startup Swiggy said on Tuesday it has raised $1.25 billion in a funding round led by SoftBank's Vision Fund 2 and technology investor Prosus as foreign funds raise their stake in local internet-based consumer firms.

After the fund infusion, Swiggy will be valued at $5.5 billion, technology news site TechCrunch reported. Swiggy did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment on its latest valuation.

Goldman Sachs and Qatar Investment Authority were also among the notable investors in the latest fundraise.

Last week, rival Zomato, backed by China's Ant Group, drew bids worth $46.3 billion in a stock offering that was oversubscribed more than 38 times.

Swiggy had raised $800 million in April earlier this year, according to local media.

Home delivery companies in India were hit by a sudden pandemic-related lockdown last year due to doubts about how the virus is transmitted. But as initial hesitancy in ordering in eased with customers avoiding going out to eat, both Zomato and Swiggy saw a rise in delivery orders.

"The scope of food delivery in India is massive and over the next few years we will continue to invest aggressively into growing this category," Sriharsha Majety, chief executive officer at Swiggy, said.

The Bengaluru-based firm has forayed into the online grocery delivery through Instamart in the past year. It has also widened its pick-up and drop service, Swiggy Genie, which competes with the Google-backed hyperlocal courier startup Dunzo.

(Reporting by Shivani Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-swiggy-raises-125-billion-funding-prosus-softbank-2021-07-20/