Swiggy appoints HUL's Ashwath Swaminathan to head growth and marketing

Foodtech and quick commerce decacorn Swiggy has appointed Ashwath Swaminathan as its chief growth & marketing officer (CGMO). 

Former Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) executive Swaminathan spent close to 18 years at HUL, where he held several leadership positions, prior to his role at the food tech startup.

Swaminathan will now oversee the two operations jointly in his new role. He will engage with new and returning customers, drive innovation, and explore partnerships to strengthen Swiggy’s market position.

Over the past year, a number of senior executives have left Swiggy, which is likely to file its draft papers over the next few months for an initial public offering.

Nishad Kenkre, VP and head of revenue and growth at Instamart, Swiggy’s quick-commerce arm, and Ashish Lingamneni, who was VP and head of brand and product marketing, quit the company last year.

Chief technology officer Dale Vaz quit in April to start his venture, Aaritya Tech. Senior vice president Karthik Gurumurthy, who built and headed Instamart, left towards the end of last year to start his venture, with Swiggy cofounder Phani Kishan taking over the quick-delivery unit’s operations.

The company recently roped in former Amazon executives like Anirban Roy and Dipak Krishnamani to lead teams. While Roy is VP of Growth, Revenue & Category, Swiggy instamart, Krishnamani is VP of Swiggy Mall. 

As per TheKredible, Swiggy’s revenue from operations (gross revenue) grew 44.9% to Rs 8,264.6 crore during the fiscal year ending March 2023 from Rs 5,705 crore in FY22.