Food delivery majors Swiggy and Zomato have both scaled back their bets on 10-minute food delivery after struggling to make the economics work. The model promised speed, but struggled to deliver profits. Now, a new startup is attempting to do things differently with a focused, full-stack model that allows more flexibility and better margins.
Swish, a 10-minute snack and fresh food delivery platform, recently raised $38 million in a Series B round led by Hara Global and Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from Accel, Stride Ventures, and Alteria Capital, bringing its total funding to about $54 million to date.
So what is Swish doing differently to attract investor interest? Will the 10-minute delivery finally crack unit economics? Mint unpacks
What is the story so far?
has made three attempts at ultra-fast food delivery: Instant, Everyday, and Quick. Each was built on a different model but ended for the same reason: the economics never worked. Instant’s pre-prepped 10-minute menu shut down within months, Everyday’s home-chef service faded out, and Quick’s 15-minute experiment was wound down after just four months.
Zomato, in its most recent quick experiment, has since pivoted to Bistro, a more controlled, high-frequency menu run through dedicated kitchens. consolidated its Zepto Café offering last year, and in February, Swiggy shut Snacc, citing unsustainable costs.
Swish recently raised about $38 million, nearly doubling its valuation, raising questions about what it’s doing differently and whether 10-minute food delivery can finally crack unit economics.
Why exactly are incumbents scaling down?
It’s a complex model. Incumbents like Swiggy, Zomato and even Zepto have scaled down their and snack delivery bets because the underlying economics never settled into a predictable, profitable pattern.
The model depends on dense order volumes, hyper-local assortment, low rider idle time and high repeat behaviour, conditions that proved inconsistent outside a few micro-pockets. Delivery costs remained high, while average order values stayed low, creating a persistent gap between contribution margin and the cost of running dark stores or maintaining ultra-fast fleets.
Over time, the marketplace companies seem to have shifted focus to higher-certainty bets, such as core food delivery, or 10-minute grocery, where frequency, margins, and operational leverage are more reliable.
What are the other concerns with 10-minute delivery?
Concerns around ultra-fast delivery go beyond business viability. In January, the Indian government urged quick-commerce companies to drop “10-minute delivery” claims, citing rising safety risks for gig workers. The move followed a nationwide strike in December, when thousands of delivery riders protested low pay, constant pressure, and dangerous road conditions.
This didn’t massively disrupt customers, but it did ignite a wider debate around whether the speed customers enjoy comes at too high a human cost.
After meeting with platform officials, the labour ministry urged companies to avoid tight delivery deadlines that could encourage risky behaviour on the road. The scrutiny has added a new layer of regulatory and ethical pressure on the 10-minute model.
What is Swish doing differently?
Swish’s pitch is that speed only works when the entire chain is tightly controlled. Instead of relying on restaurant partners or dark-store add-ons, the company runs its own compact, purpose-built cloud kitchens. Every step from cooking, garnishing, packaging, to delivery routing is handled in-house.
This lets the team prepare and pack an order in about six to seven minutes and deliver it within a small 1.5–2 km radius, keeping food hot and quality consistent.
Swish also keeps costs down by maintaining low capex and avoiding marketplace commissions altogether. The company argues that a focused, full-stack model allows more flexibility and better margins, something larger platforms struggle with because their kitchens are extensions of broader operations rather than standalone systems.
What does investor behavior signal now?
Investor interest suggests that the quick-food model isn’t dead, just waiting for the right execution. India’s food delivery market is projected to reach $15 billion by 2027, and ultra-fast formats are expected to take a growing slice of that demand.
Swish’s recent $38 million Series B round indicates that backers believe the company has found early product–market fit and is scaling with discipline. Investors point to its operational efficiency, repeat usage, and tight cost controls as signs that this version of the 10-minute model may finally be workable. Unit economics are still unproven, but the funding signals a renewed willingness to bet on quick delivery, provided the model is controlled, capital-efficient, and data-driven.