According to filings with Singapore’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA), Goyal transferred 42,371 preference shares to Tiger Global’s Internet Fund III. After the transfer, Tiger Global held 2.96 million shares in Blinkit’s parent, with a total paid up capital of $107.55 million, the filings showed.
The development was first reported by Deal Street Asia.
The share transfer comes as Zomato is ramping up its investment in Blinkit (formerly Grofers), after abandoning its plans to enter the e-grocery segment for a second time since the pandemic hit.
Last year, Blinkit
had signed a deal with Zomato and Tiger Global to raise $120 million as a part of a fresh infusion. Blinkit cofounder Albinder Dhindsa later confirmed that the investment was made at a valuation of more than $1 billion, making the e-grocer the 24th startup unicorn of 2021. A unicorn is a privately held startup with a valuation of $1 billion or more. Dhindsa had said then that the round was still not closed and that he expected to see more investments.
ET reported in November 2021 that Zomato was in talks to
invest up to $500 million more in Blinkit, marking one of its largest investments ever in a startup.
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The proposed deal also marked an extension of Zomato’s battle with Swiggy into the so-called ultrafast commerce segment, which has been attracting a slug of investor capital globally. The financing would likely value Blinkit at around $1.5 billion, ET had previously reported. Swiggy also recently allocated $700 million to grow its quick commerce vertical, Instamart.
Goyal’s ‘conflict of interest’ controversy
Goyal’s personal investments have
previously drawn controversy, after Zomato continued to invest in complementary businesses such as Shiprocket, in which the founder had stakes. This comes against the backdrop of Zomato committing last November to invest $1 billion in complementary startups over the next two years.
On December 10, startup investor Mohandas Pai raised concerns on Twitter around Goyal’s “conflict of interest” in having a personal investment in Shiprocket, which Zomato later invested in.
Thanks @TVMohandasPai for raising an important question. Please see the attached note – hopefully, this will give y… https://t.co/kqTYkfiyf5
— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) 1639124120000
To this, Goyal replied, “There was no conflict of interest to begin with… This personal investment was one of the key reasons we got closer to Shiprocket (and its founders). That’s how we discovered that there was potential long-term strategic fit between the two companies.”
He added, “Also, such things (personal investments followed by Zomato stepping in) might continue to happen by design, while we continue to ensure the highest levels of disclosure and corporate governance at Zomato.”
In December, Goyal exited his $100,000 personal investment in Shiprocket, in which Zomato had co-led a $185 million round.
Zomato’s investment strategy
Zomato’s strategy for investing in startups mirrors that of its early-investor Info Edge. With its $1 billion corpus, Zomato has been making bets on businesses in the ordering management, digital advertising, logistics and fitness spaces.
In late January the company invested in digital advertising company
Adonmo and food ordering system UrbanPiper.
“Both UrbanPiper and Adonmo investments are synergistic to our core business and will help accelerate the growth of these companies which will help in filling important gaps in the food ordering and delivery ecosystem in India,” Zomato said in its BSE filing in January.
