Zomato has secured $660 million in a funding round initiated last year, as the Indian food delivery company prepares for a public offering in the coming year.

The India-based company announced that Tiger Global, Kora, Luxor, Fidelity (FMR), D1 Capital, Baillie Gifford, Mirae, and Steadview took part in the Series J round, resulting in a post-money valuation of $3.9 billion for Zomato. Previously, Zomato had reported raising approximately $212 million as part of the same Series J round, with investments from Ant Financial, Tiger Global, Baillie Gifford, and Temasek.

Deepinder Goyal, Zomato’s co-founder and CEO, stated that the 12-year-old company is also finalizing a $140 million secondary transaction. He shared via social media, “We have already facilitated $30 million in liquidity for former employees as part of this transaction.”

The company initially aimed to complete a $600 million funding round by January of this year; however, various challenges, including the ongoing pandemic, caused delays. Furthermore, Ant Financial, which had initially pledged $150 million for this round, ultimately contributed only a portion of that amount, as disclosed by Zomato investor Info Edge earlier this year.

Headquartered in Gurgaon, the startup, which acquired Uber’s Indian food delivery operations earlier this year, directly competes with Swiggy, which is supported by Prosus Ventures, within the Indian market. Amazon has also entered the arena, though its food delivery service is currently limited to select areas of Bangalore.

The Indian food delivery market is highly competitive, with analysts at Bernstein projecting its value to reach $12 billion by 2022, as detailed in a report for clients accessed by TechCrunch. Currently, Zomato holds the leading market share, capturing approximately 50% of the total market, according to Bernstein analysts.

Zomato reduced its workforce by several hundred positions this year to strengthen its financial position and navigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which initially significantly affected the food delivery sector in India. Goyal indicated that the food delivery market is “quickly recovering from the effects of COVID-19.” He expects December 2020 to be the company’s highest-grossing month ever, noting that current GMV is around 25% higher than previous peaks seen in February 2020. He further expressed, “I am very optimistic about the future and the positive impact we will have on our customers, delivery personnel, and restaurant partners.”

In September, Goyal informed employees that Zomato had been preparing for an IPO for “sometime in the first half of next year” and was raising capital to build reserves for “potential mergers and acquisitions, and to address any competitive pressures or price wars in our various business areas.”

Generating profits through food delivery is particularly difficult in India. Unlike markets like the U.S., where the average order value is around $33, a comparable order in India typically costs approximately $4, according to estimates from Bangalore-based research firm RedSeer.

“A key challenge is that a relatively small percentage of the Indian population can afford to order food delivery on a daily basis,” explained Anand Lunia, a venture capitalist at India Quotient, in a prior interview with TechCrunch.