Swish Buys Itself More Time At The Quick Food Table

by · Inc42

SUMMARY

  • Swish is emerging as one of the few dedicated quick food players still expanding as Zomato, Swiggy, Zing and Rebel Foods have exited or scaled back
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In August 2024, Inc42 asked whether Swish could pull off what Zomato couldn’t. Two years on, the question has turned on its head. Zomato has quit. So have Swiggy, Rebel Foods and Zing.

Swish is still here. And it just raised $24 Mn this past week, less than six months after it had raised $38 Mn. 

As we said above, several startups and listed companies that entered the segment over the past two years have either scaled back or shut their offerings. Zepto Cafe has reduced its footprint, Eternal’s Zomato shut Quick and Everyday, Swiggy closed Snacc earlier this year, Zing shut operations, and Rebel Foods has halted QuickiES.

Less than two years into its operations, at a time when quick food delivery was on everyone’s minds, Swish is now the lone ranger in the space. 

The latest round comes at an interesting point for India’s 10 minute food delivery market.

The Bengaluru-based startup now serves more than 1 Mn orders a month, with monthly orders tripling since March 2026. It operates in 50 pincodes across Bengaluru and Delhi NCR.

The question now is whether Swish has found a model that can work where several better funded companies have struggled.

Swish Is Scaling Up, But There’s A Long Way To Go

Founded in late 2024 by Aniket Shah, Ujjwal Sukheja and Saran S, Swish has a different model from the traditional food delivery model, which was popularised by Swiggy and Zomato, and which even Rapido has carried forward. 

Unlike the other platforms which are aggregators, Swish owns the kitchens, prepares the food, operates the technology and manages delivery. Its kitchens are placed close to customers, generally within a 1 Km radius, allowing the startup to control the time between ordering and delivery.

That has allowed Swish to build a relatively small but dense network. The startup said in its latest funding announcement that it has crossed 1 Mn monthly orders at its peak, and that more than 80% of orders are delivered within 15 minutes. Its kitchens have an average preparation time of under four minutes.

The menu has also moved well beyond the snack heavy proposition with which the category started. Swish began with around 75 SKUs and has since expanded it by 3X, spanning meals, snacks and beverages.

Lunch and dinner now account for more orders than snacks and late night consumption. That matters because the larger opportunity for Swish is likely to be everyday meals rather than occasional impulse purchases. 

When Swish launched in Delhi, cofounder Shah revealed that more than four in 10 of its customers have ordered again, offering an indication of customer repeat behavior in Delhi.

There is also a gap between where Swish is today and where it once planned to be. In late 2024, Shah had mentioned plans to have 150 kitchens across Bengaluru by March 2025. It currently has around 55 kitchens, even after entering Delhi NCR.

The latest fundraise gives Swish more room to build more momentum in that regard. Swish wants to expand its kitchen network in Bengaluru and Delhi NCR and has an ambitious target of having more than 1,000 kitchens over the next five years.