Zomato in talks to raise $200M from Alibaba’s Ant Financial

Online restaurant discovery platform Zomato is in talks with Alibaba and its payment arm Ant Financial to raise up to $200 million, according to an Economic Times report.

Citing people in the know of the things, the report says that though the deal has not been finalized as yet, it may value Zomato north of $1 billion, giving it unicorn status.

Ant Financial is also looking to strengthen its foothold in south-east Asia, India and markets such as New Zealand and Australia. “There are synergies between the two players in the international markets, especially Southeast Asia where Alibaba is building a strong presence. But the deal is not finalised as there is no term sheet yet,” one of the person told ET.

Zomato has raised roughly $225 million in capital so far. It last raised $60 million from Temasek and Vy Capital in September 2015. This round valued company at about $960 million.

After struggling for quite some time, foodtech sector may finally be seeing a turnaround. Zomato’s rival in the food ordering space Swiggy also raised $80 million from Naspers earlier this year.

Earlier this year, Zomato rolled out its subscription-based product — Zomato Treats — for users in India. The service is modeled on Zomato Gold that is available to users in the UAE and Portugal. A Zomato Treats subscription gets customers a free dessert with every meal they order from Zomato partner-restaurants in 16 Indian cities.