Brands
Swiggy’s awe striking revenue surge feeds growth, but losses deepen
MUMBAI: They bring us joy with a click, delivering steaming biryanis, comforting gulab jamuns, and all things delightful, right to our doors. But behind every pop notification—’Miss me?’ from our favorite desserts—lies a story of grit, ambition, and relentless pursuit. Swiggy, India’s food delivery and quick commerce titan, has filled our carts with convenience, but at a cost that has left its own coffers under strain. In its Q2 FY25 results, unveiled on 3 December 2024, Swiggy showcased an awe-inspiring surge in revenues by 30 per cent YoY to Rs 36,015 million. Yet, this celebratory crescendo is tempered by an echo of concern—net losses have deepened, reflecting the challenges of sustaining growth while keeping an expansive team and ecosystem thriving. It’s a tale as flavorful as their marketing, and as complex as their financials—balancing indulgence with accountability.
Swiggy’s total revenue from operations increased by 30.2 per cent YoY, reaching Rs 36,015 million in Q2 FY25 compared to Rs 27,633 million in Q2 FY24. This leap reflects strong performance across key segments, particularly food delivery and quick commerce. However, the company’s consolidated losses stood at Rs 6,255 million for the quarter, marking an 8.6 per cent rise from the Rs 5,751 million loss recorded in the same period last year.
The increase in expenses, driven by marketing, logistics, and employee benefits, strained profitability despite robust revenue growth. Total expenditure for Q2 FY25 amounted to Rs 43,095 million, a 22.8 per cent increase YoY. Swiggy’s continued focus on customer acquisition and brand building weighed heavily on its bottom line.
Key drivers:
● Food Delivery: As Swiggy’s flagship segment, food delivery generated Rs 15,745 million in revenue, reflecting a YoY growth of 22.9 per cent. Enhanced customer loyalty programs and competitive pricing played pivotal roles in this growth.
● Quick Commerce (Instamart): Quick commerce revenues skyrocketed by 135.4 per cent YoY, reaching Rs 4,900 million, emphasising Swiggy’s commitment to diversifying its service portfolio. Strategic investments in dark stores and supply chain logistics have fueled this expansion.
● Supply Chain and Distribution: This segment contributed Rs 14,526 million, up 22.0 per cent from the previous year, as Swiggy capitalised on its warehousing and fulfillment network to streamline FMCG distribution.
● Platform Innovations: Revenues from platform innovations, including initiatives like Swiggy Genie, amounted to Rs 253 million but faced a decline from Rs 494 million YoY.
Expansion comes at a cost
Swiggy’s aggressive growth strategy comes at a significant cost. Employee benefits rose to Rs 6,073 million in Q2 FY25, up 13.2 per cent YoY, reflecting hiring and retention efforts in a competitive labor market. Delivery charges surged by 32.5 per cent to Rs 10,949 million, as Swiggy expanded operations in Tier II and Tier III cities.
The company’s marketing expenses also increased, with advertising and promotional costs totaling Rs 5,371 million, up 8.8 per cent from the previous year. These expenditures underline Swiggy’s push to strengthen its market presence amidst fierce competition from rivals like Zomato and Blinkit.
IPO milestones
Swiggy’s listing on the NSE and BSE in November 2024 marked a significant milestone. The IPO raised Rs 115,407 million through fresh issues and offer-for-sale components. Proceeds were earmarked for expanding Instamart’s operations, enhancing technology infrastructure, and bolstering working capital.
Additionally, Swiggy’s investment in its wholly owned subsidiary, Scootsy Logistics, reached Rs 1,600 crore. This infusion aims to optimise supply chain capabilities and support quick commerce scalability.
Swiggy’s outlook hinges on its ability to navigate the profitability challenge. With over 70 per cent of revenues stemming from food delivery, diversifying its income streams is crucial. Quick commerce, which grew phenomenally in Q2 FY25, holds promise but demands continued investment.
The company has also signaled its intent to strengthen customer engagement through tech-driven solutions and personalised services. However, the path to sustainable profitability will require stringent cost controls and efficiency enhancements across its operations.
Swiggy’s Q2 FY25 performance paints a vivid picture of ambition clashing with financial challenges. Swiggy stands at a crossroads, its vision clear but the journey demanding resilience and bold decisions. For now, we wait—with curiosity and anticipation—to see what this culinary trailblazer serves up next in its quest to satisfy appetites and redefine the future of food.
Brands
Tessolve lands a semiconductor veteran to drive its next big push
Ravi Kumar Chirugudu, who started his career at ISRO and has spent 35 years building chips and companies, joins the Bengaluru-based firm as president and chief operating officer
BENGALURU: Tessolve has never been shy about its ambitions. The Bengaluru-based engineering services firm already counts 18 of the world’s top 20 semiconductor companies among its clients, employs more than 3,500 engineers across 12 countries, and last year pocketed a $150m investment from TPG. Now it has hired the executive it believes can turn those assets into something bigger. Ravi Kumar Chirugudu, a 35-year semiconductor veteran who once built satellite payloads for ISRO and has since scaled engineering organisations across three continents, joins as president and chief operating officer, effective immediately.
THE MAN AND THE MANDATE
The appointment is, by any measure, a serious hire. Ravi Kumar Chirugudu comes to Tessolve after senior leadership stints at HCL Technologies, Altran and Wipro, where he managed large profit-and-loss portfolios and oversaw cross-regional teams. Over the course of his career, he has been instrumental in bringing more than 1,000 new products to market across the high-tech, energy and manufacturing verticals. Before the private sector claimed him, he began his working life as a scientist at the Indian Space Research Organisation, contributing to research and development in charge-coupled device technology and satellite payloads, a foundation that shaped everything that followed.
In his new role, he will lead Tessolve’s global growth strategy: expanding its engineering capabilities, deepening customer relationships and accelerating innovation across semiconductor and high-performance computing domains. The brief is broad, but the context is specific. Tessolve operates in the $550 billion global semiconductor market, and its recent moves, the acquisition of Germany’s Dream Chip Technologies and the TPG funding round, have sharpened both its reach and its expectations.
Srini Chinamilli, co-founder and chief executive of Tessolve, is characteristically direct about why Ravi Kumar Chirugudu was the choice:
“As we scale our global semiconductor and system engineering capabilities, Ravi’s appointment marks an important step forward. As global semiconductor demand continues to accelerate across industries, it is creating significant opportunities across the semiconductor lifecycle, from design, packaging, validation and systems integration. Ravi’s deep knowledge and leadership in this ecosystem brings the right mix of industry expertise, customer connect and execution capability, which will play a key role in strengthening our position as a trusted global engineering partner and reinforcing our market leadership.”
THE NEW ARRIVAL SPEAKS
Ravi Kumar Chirugudu, for his part, frames the move in terms of timing and culture, two factors that veteran executives tend to weigh as heavily as title or compensation:
“I am happy to join Tessolve at a time when the industry is rapidly evolving towards more complex, AI-driven systems. What stands out to me is its strong people-first culture and its commitment to bringing value to its customers. The strength of its global team, combined with its deep expertise in semiconductor innovation and next-generation product engineering, creates a solid foundation to build differentiated, scalable solutions. I look forward to working closely with the team to drive strategic growth and strengthen its role in shaping the global semiconductor ecosystem.”
The reference to AI-driven systems is not incidental. The semiconductor industry is in the midst of a structural reshaping, driven by the insatiable compute demands of artificial intelligence. For engineering services firms like Tessolve, which offers end-to-end capabilities from silicon design to packaged parts and invests in high-performance computing, high-speed interfaces, photonics and 5G, the moment is both an opportunity and a test. The company says it is well positioned to capture the next wave of industry growth. Ravi Kumar Chirugudu is now the person who has to prove it.
He came in from outer space, literally, and spent three decades learning how the semiconductor industry works from the inside out. Now Tessolve is betting that accumulated knowledge can help it cross the next frontier. In the $550 billion global chip market, the gap between ambition and execution is measured in engineering hours and leadership quality. Tessolve has just gone shopping for both.
