Sriharsha Majety-led Swiggy on Friday saw its public offer subscribed 3.59 times driven by strong demand from qualified institutional buyers (QIBs). 

QIBs oversubscribed 6.02 times by the end of the third day after slow activity during the first two days of book building. 

Portions reserved for retail investors were subscribed 1.14 times, while non institutional investors (NIIS) subscribed only 41% of the allocated shares, according to data from the BSE. 

Overall, by the end of the bidding process, Swiggy’s IPO received bids for 57.53 crore shares compared to the 16.01 crore shares on offer. 

The quick commerce and food delivery giant plans to raise close to Rs 11,700 crore in its IPO at a valuation of  around Rs 87,000 crore or about $11.3 billion at the upper price band, set between Rs 371-Rs 390 apiece. It expects to start trading on domestic bourses on Wednesday, November 13. 

Swiggy, in its RHP, had said it plans to use the proceeds from the fresh issue to invest in Scootsy, its material subsidiary, as well as to repay the company’s debt. Additionally, the funds will support the expansion of its dark store network, along with investments in technology and brand-building efforts.

Earlier in the day, media reports reported that the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has found the food delivery business practices of Swiggy and its listed peer Zomato in violation of competition laws.

The CCI is still reviewing the investigation findings and will soon decide on any penalties or changes to the food delivery companies’ business practices. Both companies can challenge the findings.

Picture this: A healthcare provider in a Tier II Indian city is building healthtech solutions for the world. For Ashvini Danigond, Kolhapur-based Manorama Infosolutions is a passion transformed into entrepreneurship.

“Hailing from a small town brought its own set of challenges, but it was clear that I wanted to work and impact in a single domain – healthcare,” said the Founder and CEO.

Danigond shared her journey of transforming healthcare through technology at a virtual fireside chat titled ‘Empowering Global Health with Indian Ingenuity: Manorama Infosolutions’ Pioneering Spirit in Healthcare Technology’, hosted by AWS Bharat Innovators Series, in partnership with AMD and YourStory.

Sunil PP, India and South Asia Lead: Education, Space, NPO, Channels and Alliances, Amazon Web Services moderated the session.

Expansion and market strategy

Founded with an objective to simplify the hospitalisation experience using information technology, Manorama has grown to serve over 11 countries with a team of 220 technical resources. 

Talking about the initial idea of providing doctors with complete data sheets to improve treatment protocols, Danigond said that they launched their product in 2006 after four years of dedicated efforts. 

“Our initial focus was on Health Management Information System (HMIS), which then evolved into comprehensive digital solutions,” she said, highlighting how Amazon Web Services (AWS) is helping the company modernise its technology stack and manage large-scale data. 

Danigond emphasised the importance of being comfortable in their location and the strategic advantages it provides – a strong medical and engineering presence. On market penetration strategies, she said Manorama works with local partners for international markets. 

The company, which focuses on B2B solutions, has a large customer base in both the private and public health sectors, including major installations in various cities. It works with some large private corporates and the “Big Four” global consultancies—KPMG, EY, PwC, and Deloitte. Manorama’s public sector projects include automating 400 hospitals for Mumbai corporation, Coal India, and a few smart city projects.

Solutions and country automation projects

Recounting the first significant deal that Manorama closed, Danigond said, “The Lokmanya group in Pune involved integrating our solution into a hospital workflow. The deal was challenging but successfully completed in 25 days.”

Danigond shared an anecdote about securing a deal with the Kuwait Ministry of Health for a cardio-thoracic solution despite initial objections. Manorama’s solution delivery pattern and gap analysis helped the company overcome geographical challenges. 

Manorama completed its country-wide automation and enterprise HMIS implementation for the Ministry of Health, Seychelles and the Ministry of Health, Royal Government of Bhutan during the pandemic to provide digital solutions for the government-run hospitals in the countries. 

Sharing details, she said, “Bhutan’s technology subsidiary, Thimphu TechPark Limited, supported us largely in terms of the localisation, cultural changes, and deployment policy of the project.” 

The founder and CEO believes that the Bhutan project showcases Manorama’s ability to build customisable and scalable solutions for large-scale projects.

Future of healthcare and AI integration

Danigond credited COVID-19 for accelerating digitisation in the healthcare industry. She predicted that many emerging markets will move towards complete digital transformation by 2025. 

“Now is the time to help biomedical companies and pharmaceuticals take the next level of action, to go for real-time analytics, and help doctors give more accurate and fast services,” she said. “The real investors in healthcare are the ones who are thinking beyond the decade.”

Manorama is focusing on AI, machine learning, and clinical decision support systems to enhance healthcare services. The company has launched speech-to-text technology along with supporting multilingual facilities and is also working on health information exchange platforms.

The company aims to continue focusing on large e-health projects and national-level digitisation. “Our long-term goal is to make healthcare data accessible and useful for research and development, pharmaceutical companies, and disease management,” Danigond said. A nationwide health ID system for better data management and patient care is also on her mind.

Advising new startups in the healthcare industry, Danigond emphasised the importance of ground-level experience, understanding use cases, and building a sustainable technology platform. 

“Startups must focus on market opportunities, target for the focus market, and then be passionate about the product built,” she remarked, highlighting the importance of choosing the right technology platform.

The Bharat Innovator Series serves as a platform for founders, policymakers, and thought leaders to engage in meaningful discussions about technology opportunities. This initiative aims to foster dialogue, address challenges, and explore synergies for the future. The series features webinars, podcasts, and events that spotlight the exceptional work of Indian innovators spanning various domains.

November has not started on a good note for the Indian startup ecosystem as venture capital (VC) funding came in around the $ 100 million level. This is mostly likely due to lower activity given that the year is coming to a close.

The total funding for the first week of November stood at $101 million across 21 deals. In comparison, the previous week saw a total amount of $289 million.

This lower amount of funding for the week was largely due to the absence of large deals. Additionally, the months of November and December generally tend to see lower activity as it is the last two months of the year.

Now the Indian startup ecosystem will start to prepare for next year and it is unlikely there will be any dramatic change. The VC inflow is expected to remain steady with no major downside expected in the present environment.

The Indian startup ecosystem saw heightened activity during the week with the IPO of Swiggy getting subscribed more than three times. The numbers from Ola for the second quarter were a mixed bag.

Key transactions

Easy Home Finance raised $35 million from Claypond Capital, Asia Rising Fund, Xponentia Capital, Finsight Ventures and Harbourfront Capital.

Fitness brand Boldfit raised Rs 110 crore ($13 million approx.) from Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP).

Spacetech startup GalaxEye raised $10 million from MountTech Growth Fund, Mela Ventures, Speciale Invest, ideaForge and Samarthya Investment Advisors.

Robotics startup CynLr raised $10 million from Pavestone, Athera Venture Partners, Speciale Invest and Infoedge (Redstart).

Drone technology firm Marut Drones raised $6.2 million from Lok Capital.

Hala Mobility raised Rs 51 crore ($6 million approx.) from a network of angel investors and family offices.

Backpacker hostel brand The Hosteller raised Rs 48 crore ($5.6 million) from V3 Ventures, Blacksoil, Synergy Capital Partners and Unit e-Consulting.