Zomato, India’s Yelp, Raises $210M Courtesy Of China

What’s the next frontier for China’s corporate giants? Food delivery in India.

Zomato, which is like a combination of Yelp and Postmates, has accepted a $210 million investment from Alipay Singapore (Ant Financial’s Singapore branch). This investment comes just months after the Fintech giant invested $200 million in Zomato.

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According to Zomato’s press release in March, the company planned to offer “more convenient and seamless payment options to its users in partnership with Ant and Ant’s strategic mobile wallet partners” in India, Australia, and the Middle East. Ant’s latest investment into Zomato likely reaffirms that commitment, but a significant partnership and a swath of money isn’t enough to call a win.

China-based Tencent is also reportedly in talks with Swiggy, Zomato’s primary competitor in India, about a deal that could funnel up to $700 million into the company. Swiggy has also previously received investments from Meituan-Dianping, the Tencent-backed food delivery (and everything else) company which went public in Hong Kong earlier this year.

The capital invested in India and Southeast Asia-based companies has fueled competition among companies in various verticals. However, the monetary affection Tencent and Ant Financial have in Zomato and Swiggy may be limited to ensuring that neither gives up status in the battle to own wallets.