Zomato To Raise $200 Million, Will Enter Billion-Dollar Club by December

Zomato, the online restaurant discovery guide, has decided to hit the billion dollar plus valuation by December this year. In order to achieve its this goal, the company has already begun talks with a number of global strategic and private equity investors. The company will have to raise another 200 million dollars in order to hit the billion dollar mark by the year end.

According to sources, private equity firms like Tybourne Capital Management, which is a Hong Kong based hedge fund, Tiger Global and Steadview Capital have entered into discussions with the Gurgaon base Zomato. A couple of strategic investors are also in talks with the eight year old company but their names haven’t been disclosed yet.

Sequoia Capital, an existing investor, which was successful in raising around $530 million in its fourth India focused fund, has also decided to take part in the latest round of funding. The funding round could further reduce Info edge’s stake in the company. Info Edge is an early backer of the Gurgaon based company which still owns 50% of stakes in it.

If the fundraising is successful, it will be the biggest investment ever made by investors in an Indian non-retail, consumer retail venture. This fundraising will also leave behind the $90 million raised by Quikr in March this year.

The last round of funding which took place in November 2013, valued the eight year old company at $165 million. This year, the company is expected to end the year with revenues of Rs.100 crores or more. Flipkart, the Online retailer was successful in increasing its valuation from $ 2.6 billion to $ 7 billion in just two months between May and July this year.

If the Gurgaon based Online restaurant discovery guide is successful in achieving the $ 1 billion mark, it will make an entry into the elite club of digital startups who have been successful in reaching this crucial valuation milestone. As of now, just seven Indian startups enjoy a membership in the club, they are MakeMyTrip, InMobi, Flipkart, Mu Sigma, Snapdeal, Info Edge and JustDial. They all are valued more than $ 1billion.

A successful round of funding will also make the two founders of the company- Pankaj Chaddah and Deepinder Goyal- the new poster boys of startup boom and success in India. Both the founder currently own over 30% stakes in the company. The Gurgaon based Company is expected to use the money from the funds to make its way into the lucrative United States market  and compete with the likes of Open Table etc.
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