Bengaluru-based Swish recently raised $2 million from Silicon Valley venture capital firm Accel with participation from Urban Company’s Abhiraj Bhal and Varun Khaitan and former Swiggy director Instamart, Karthik Gurumurthy, among others.

Gurugram-based Zing has rolled out Android and iOS apps, aiming to offer a variety of meals and snacks in 10 minutes around the clock, with exclusive discounts and live order tracking features, according to the description of its application. Early-stage venture capital firm 100x.vc invested in the company last year.

“Ten-minute delivery is gaining momentum because it appeals to the impulsive user who prioritizes convenience, much like fast commerce. The entire impulse market is very large and is poised for massive growth,” said Karan Taurani, an analyst at Elara Capital.

While Swiggy ₹11,300-crore IPO in November was seen as a reason to celebrate for the food-tech ecosystem, the likely inclusion of Zomato in the benchmark stock index Sensex in December added even more ‘enthusiasm.

Aniket Shah, co-founder and managing director of Swish, said the idea to venture into this sector was born out of the need to meet the growing demand for faster food deliveries.

“We realized that fast commerce was initially seen only as a convenience, but has now become indispensable as people seek faster solutions to their everyday needs. However, despite progress in other categories, food delivery times often vary between 30 and 60 minutes, which falls far short of the urgency customers now expect, especially in times of cravings,” Shah said. Mint.

Imitate success

These new companies seek to learn from older, well-established food delivery startups, Swiggy and Zomato, which started small and grew into listed, well-capitalized companies within a decade to become an integral part of the urban household ecosystem and semi-urban.

Swiggy recently rolled out Bolt, a feature promising food delivery from select nearby restaurants within 10-15 minutes. Zomato, after trialling Zomato Instant, is now looking to roll out fast delivery of snacks like samosas and chai through its fast commerce arm Blinkit, Mint reported last month.

Zepto’s coffee offerings are growing rapidly, with at least 140 coffees launching each month.

“It’s already ₹160 crores in revenue and we are live in only 15% of our stores. By next year we believe this will reach ₹1,000 crore, if we extend it to all our dark stores,” said Aadit Palicha, co-founder and managing director, Zepto. Mint in an interview earlier this week.

Fast grocery delivery, better known as fast commerce, has grown exponentially with gross merchandise value (GMV) reaching nearly $3.3 billion in FY24, up from $500 million dollars in FY20, according to a September report from Chryseum Advisors, a private markets platform. GMV is expected to reach $9.9 billion over the next five years.

For Swiggy and Zomato, their fast commerce arms Instamart and Blinkit, respectively, are among the key focus areas, with both companies rapidly expanding dark stores and maintaining large cash reserves, indicating that food delivery in 10 minutes could be a natural opportunity.

However, 10-minute food deliveries are more complex. Since a limited number of items can be prepared in just a few minutes, this feature will likely be limited to ready-made snacks and drinks from nearby restaurants. Additionally, growth will be difficult, according to Taurani of Elara Capital.

“I don’t see food delivery in 10 minutes as a great proposition at a respectable scale because some popular food items like pizza, burger and biryani will not be delivered in 10 minutes. This will only work for a few categories like confectionery and baked goods,” he said.

But Shah of Swish plans to expand the food selection by leveraging modified cloud kitchens.

“We operate optimized and modified cloud kitchens or ‘delicacy centers’ as we call them, and control the entire process of fresh food preparation and delivery within a 1.5-2 km radius to ensure that the Food reaches consumers in the best quality, at the best temperature. and time.”

By March 2025, Swish plans to set up 150 delight centers in Bengaluru and expand to other tier-1 cities, Shah said.

Swiggy, on the other hand, focuses on offering quick-to-prepare meals from popular restaurants and quick-service restaurants within a 2 km radius of the consumer.

Room for a third?

While new companies see a wealth of opportunity, whether there is an opportunity for a third major player in food delivery remains a matter of debate.

Swiggy and Zomato have outperformed older, well-funded hyperlocal delivery companies such as TinyOwl, Foodpanda and PepperTap, gaining size and popularity by acquiring companies like Scootsy (Swiggy) and Runnr (Zomato).

Taurani said smaller players, if successful, could be targets for giants like Swiggy and Zomato, which have the wherewithal to grow, given their industry expertise and cash-rich balance sheets.

Shah, on the other hand, said the Indian consumer market is large enough for many businesses, especially with the expansion of the total addressable market (TAM).

“While there are existing players who have done a brilliant job in growing the food delivery market, we believe the incremental demand for food delivery that can be met by immediately delivering food is of magnitude larger than the current TAM. I believe we are creating a new TAM as we continue to grow,” he said.

The Indian food delivery market is growing and is expected to exceed ₹2 lakh crore by 2030 (according to a report by Bain and Swiggy), consumers can expect an increasing number of companies to jump in to provide the convenience they crave.