Zomato’s Independent Director Gunjan Soni Resigns Due to 'Increased Professional Commitments'

Food delivery platform Zomato’s independent director, Gunjan Tilak Raj Soni, has resigned from the company. The company informed the exchanges about the same on October 11. 

Soni resigned from her post with immediate effect on October 11 due to increased work commitment. With the resignation, Soni will also cease to be a member of the company's risk management committee and corporate social responsibility committee. 

In her resignation letter, she wrote that the need to step down from her role came due to increased work commitment. She wrote, “I am grateful for the opportunity to have served on the board and am confident in Zomato’s management team and the company’s future direction. It has been an absolute pleasure to serve on the board under Kaushik's chairmanship and work alongside such talented and dedicated board members and the management team. I take this opportunity to thank them for the support extended to me during my tenure as an independent director of the company. I wish Deepinder and team the very best for continued success.” 

Read: The Zomato Effect: Food Delivery Giant Sees 100% Growth in Brand Value, Hits $3.5 Billion

Following her resignation, Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal commented that it was great to partner with Gunjan. He wrote, “On behalf of Zomato, I want to thank Gunjan for her valuable insights and guidance that have been instrumental in our growth. While I will miss her on our board, we understand her constraints and wish her continued success.” 

Recent Departures

This resignation comes soon after Zomato co-founder and chief people officer Akriti Chopra also resigned from her post on September 27. The company highlighted that Chopra stepped down from her post to pursue other interests. 

Chopra was associated with the company for over 13 years after she joined the company in 2011. In 2021, she was elevated to the post of co-founder. After Zomato’s acquisition of Blinkit in 2022, questions were raised about possible conflict of interest by Zomato. This was because Chopra is the wife of Blinkit founder Albinder Dhindsa. 

Following this, Goyal reportedly said in a post on August 1, 2022, “The relationship between Albinder and Akriti/I is public and already known—there was nothing to hide there. The board was aware of it, and all parties, including Akriti herself, made sure that she was never involved in any discussions or decisions with respect to the transaction.” 

Goyal also highlighted that the transaction also had no overlap with Chopra’s role as Chief People Officer at Zomato. The resignation comes at a time when another co-founder of Zomato also left the company. Some of the other co-founders who left the company include Gunjan Patidar, Mohit Gupta, Gaurav Gupta, and Pankaj Chaddah. 

Patridar, who was the co-founder and chief technology officer, left the company in January 2023. In an exchange filing, the company highlighted, “Gunjan Patidar was one of the first few employees of Zomato and built the core tech systems for the company. Over the past 10 plus years, he also nurtured a stellar tech leadership team that is capable of taking on the mantle of leading the tech function going forward.”