Gaurav Gupta, Zomato’s chief operating officer or COO, has stepped down from the position. For the Gurugram-based firm, Gupta will now lead the nutrition business. Zomato is likely to reveal its plan for the new business line in the coming weeks, although there are no details about the nutrition business of the company.
In March last year, Gupta was elevated to the position of co-founder. He’ll be moving from the COO role, according to an email sent by Gupta to Zomans. “I wasn’t doing this role anyway, and if we find someone better than me to do this role, it’ll be great for all of us,” wrote Gupta.
Gupta was given the cofounder title at Zomato in 2019. Zomato has four cofounders— Deepinder Goyal, Gunjan Patidar, Gupta, and Mohit Gupta.
Importantly, at Zomato, this is the second significant internal movement. The company elevated Akshant Goyal to the role of a chief financial officer or CFO last month. Goyal acted as vice president (corporate development) until late October.
At a time when Zomato is raising a pre-IPO round, the change in the role of Gupta and Goyal has arrived. Last week, half a dozen investors, including Mirae Asset, Steadview Capital, Luxor Capital, Lugard Road Capital, ASP India LP, and Pacific Horizon, raised $147 million from the company.
The firm has raised over $221 million over four tranches in its ongoing Series F round since August. In the coming months, the firm is likely to raise $400 million more in primary and secondary capital.
Zomato is also at an advanced stage in a secondary transaction to offer an exit to its co-founder Pankaj Chaddah and two dozen other employees. It is anticipated that Chaddah will offload shares worth up to $25 million. Before going public, the possible second round was aimed at reducing shareholders on the Zomato cap table.
Revenue of Zomato in FY20 grew by 105 percent compared to FY19, while costs in the same period grew by just 47 percent. In FY20, moving the business toward profitability was a key goal for the organization, and there appears to be substantial progress.
In January 2020, Zomato acquired Uber Eats India company that helped to propel them to market leadership in this hotly contested area.
