Zomato Co-Founder and Chief People Officer Akriti Chopra Resigns

Zomato announced on Friday that its co-founder and Chief People Officer, Akriti Chopra, has resigned from the company "to pursue other interests."

"We would like to inform that Ms. Akriti Chopra, CoFounder & Chief People Officer designated as Senior Management Personnel (“SMP”), has tendered her resignation with effect from September 27, 2024," the company said in a regulatory filing.

Also Read| What Swiggy's IPO Filing Reveals About its Bid to Take on Zomato

Chopra has been with the company for 13 years and played a key role in setting up and scaling Zomato's legal and finance teams in her previous role as CFO.

Before joining Zomato, she worked with PwC for three years in the tax and regulatory practice.

In January last year, another Zomato co-founder and its then chief technology officer Gunjan Patidar resigned after over a decade stint in the company. Before that in November 2022, another co-founder Mohit Gupta had resigned. Gupta was elevated to co-founder level in 2020 from the position of CEO of its food delivery business.

Zomato Rival Set to Hit D-Street

Zomato's rival, Swiggy is all set to make its debut on the D-street later this year. Earlier this week, the company submitted its revised IPO papers to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

According to the updated draft red herring prospectus (UDRHP), the company is planning to raise funds by selling fresh shares worth around Rs 3,750 crore, alongside an OFS (Offer for Sale). It is also expected that the total size of the IPO can easily exceed Rs 10,000 crore.

The SoftBank-backed food delivery platform is expected to enter the primary market in November. For SoftBank, this will mark the fourth-largest IPO from its portfolio this year. Ola Electric, Brainbees Solutions (FirstCry), and the SaaS-based platform Unicommerce have already made their debut on D-Street in August.

As for Swiggy, the company did witness a glimpse of profitability earlier last year but the food delivery platform is still facing losses. While it is worth noting that Zomato turned profitable only last year after its listing, it would be interesting to see if Swiggy could repeat the trajectory.

(With inputs from PTI)