Zomato co-founder Gaurav Gupta puts in his papers

Gaurav Gupta, one of Zomato’s top executives, has moved on from the company, co-founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal announced on Tuesday. The development comes just a few months after Zomato’s successful listing on the Indian bourses, with Gupta being a key face in the run-up to the company’s IPO. 

Gupta was the first person in the company to be elevated to the co-founder position in 2019 under the Zomato founder program. At the time, this was an unprecedented move in India’s startup ecosystem. Gupta had joined Zomato in 2015 and was made the company’s COO in 2018. 

“I am taking a new turn in my life and will be starting a new chapter,” Gupta said in an email to his colleagues which was reproduced on Zomato’s blog. “We have a great team now to take Zomato forward and it’s time for me to take an alternate path in my journey.”

This is the second co-founder level exit at Zomato. Besides Goyal, Pankaj Chaddah was the other co-founder of the company since its inception. Chaddah moved from Zomato in March 2018. He now runs fitness startup Mindhouse.

Gupta’s departure comes as the food tech company is shutting down some of its key ventures such as grocery delivery including those that were being led by Gupta himself. For instance, Zomato pulled the plug on its nutraceutical segment, and its US-based table reservation business, both of which were being led by Gupta. 

Last week, Zomato had discontinued its grocery delivery service owing to increasing competition from rivals, Moneycontrol had reported. Instead, the company will be now looking to leverage grocery delivery via its $100 million investment in Grofers. 

Several prominent Indian startups have seen departures from key positions lately. Zomato’s biggest competitor Swiggy saw its COO Vivek Sunder step down in June. Entrackr had exclusively reported about Sunder’s departure, who subsequently went on to join edtech startup Cuemath as its CEO. 

After Zomato’s $100 million investment in Grofers for a 9.3% stake, Grofers’  co-founder Saurabh Kumar had exited the company in June, although he continues as a board member and shareholder in the company. Co-founder of health ecosystem startup Curefit Ankit Nagori parted ways with the company.