Zomato co-founder and head of supply Gaurav Gupta, who was a key executive in the run up to the food delivery platform’s IPO, has resigned from the company. Gupta joined Zomato in 2015 and was made a founder in 2019. His exit comes days after Zomato shut down its grocery delivery pilot and nutraceutical business, which Gupta was spearheading.
CEO Deepinder Goyal took to Twitter to wish Gupta well and confirm his resignation:
Thank you @grvgpta – the last 6 years have been amazing and we have come very far. There's so much of our journey still ahead of us, and I am thankful that we have a great team and leadership to carry us forward.https://t.co/AJAmC5ie6R
— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) September 14, 2021
Gupta’s resignation comes in the middle of a larger restructuring at Zomato after its IPO. Since being listed, the company has shut down international subsidiaries and unsuccessful local initiatives.
Gupta’s journey at Zomato
Gupta joined Zomato in 2015 as head of table reservations. He became the company’s Chief Operating Officer in 2018. Gupta was elevated to co-founder in 2019 to focus on the nutraceuticals and grocery delivery market. “This business can potentially be a large value driver for Zomato in the future,” Gupta had said last year.
In the past few months, Gupta has been at the forefront of Zomato’s IPO effort, leading discussions with investors and the media. As the grocery delivery and overseas subsidiaries failed to take off, however, Gupta had a fallout with Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal, according to a report by Moneycontrol.
Zomato was founded in 2008 by Deepinder Goyal, Pankaj Chaddah, and Gunjan Patidar. Chaddah left the company in 2018. After Gupta’s resignation, the company is currently led by four co-founders: Deepinder Goyal, Gunjan Patidar, Mohit Gupta, and Akriti Chopra.
Zomato on a clean-up drive to focus on core business
In the June 2020 quarter, Zomato reported a consolidated loss of Rs. 356.2 crore. Here are initiatives that Zomato has abandoned in recent weeks:
- Grocery Delivery: Last week, Zomato informed its grocery partners that it would abandon grocery delivery plans. Reasons cited include gaps in order fulfilment, poor customer experience and increasing competition from rivals promising express delivery.
- Nutraceuticals: Hours after it shut down the grocery delivery business, Zomato also abandoned its plans to deliver nutraceuticals (health and fitness supplements) on the app.
- International Subsidiaries: This month, Zomato shut down its subsidiaries in United Kingdom and Singapore. In August, Zomato had dissolved its US subsidiary, revealing that the subsidiary did not contribute at all to the overall turnover of the company.
- NexTable: In August this year, Zomato announced that it was shutting down NexTable, it’s table reservation service in the US. Zomato had acquired the US-based online table reservation platform in 2015.
Also read:
- Zomato Abandons Plans To Enter Grocery Delivery Market After Trial Runs Fall Flat
- Why Did Zomato Shut Down Its Operations In UK And Singapore?
- Online Food Delivery Platform Zomato To Open Rs 9,375 Crore IPO On July 14
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