E-commerce

Instamart’s lost year: How a year-long leadership transition cost Swiggy

Pranav Balakrishnan

November 19, 2024 | 11 Min Read

With three leaders in 18 months and a raft of senior departures, Swiggy's quick-commerce unit has struggled to keep pace with rivals in terms of innovation and execution. Fresh from its IPO, the company is betting on e-commerce heavyweights to close the gap with Blinkit.

Key Takeaways

Swiggy Instamart, now on its third CEO in 18 months, stands out as the only quick-commerce player that’s had frequent leadership transitions
While cofounder Phani Kishan Addepalli stepped in temporarily last year as CEO, the platform’s latest leader is former Flipkart executive Amitesh Jha
However, frequent leadership changes, particularly at the VP level, have slowed decision-making and allowed rivals to gain market share
Instamart’s newly-appointed leaders, seasoned veterans from the e-commerce industry, are expected to leverage their expertise to help Instamart recover lost ground

This past week, the leadership of Swiggy, India’s second-largest food delivery company, rang the bell at the National Stock Exchange in Mumbai, signalling the culmination of the year’s biggest tech IPO globally.

Swiggy raised $1.3 billion from the public markets in a heavily scrutinised listing, with the Bengaluru-based firm being benchmarked against its rival and stock market darling Zomato. Despite the markets turning bearish on the day of the listing, Swiggy’s IPO sailed through, with its share price closing the day at Rs 455, against an issue price of Rs 390.

Among the leaders present at the listing ceremony was Amitesh Jha, the new CEO of Swiggy’s quick commerce business, Instamart. Jha is among several recent CXO-level hires at Instamart in recent months, with his appointment in August widely considered to be the most crucial to Instamart’s future success. Jha’s importance was underscored by the fact that he was granted pre-IPO ESOPs worth Rs 126 crore—more than what was accorded to the likes of Rohit Kapoor, the CEO of Swiggy’s core food business, Swiggy CFO Rahul Bothra, and company co-founders Phani Kishan Addepalli, Nandan Reddy among others.

This is a premium article and available only to subscribers.

Already a subscriber? Sign In

What's your right fit?

Be the smartest person in the room. Choose the plan that works for you and join our exclusive subscriber community.

Premium Articles

4 articles every week

Trusted by the best

Karthik Reddy

Blume Ventures

The CapTable brings a refreshing set of insights for us at the Blume team, highlighting stories that bring together the underlying business and founders with that of investors' journeys with these startups. It's an important perspective that very few bring to startup ecosystem enthusiasts.

Latest Articles

VerSe, Builder.ai, and the cloud deal that made Microsoft rethink its approach

Microsoft’s investment in VerSe Innovation was intended to secure a long-term Azure customer. Instead, it led to a strained relationship—one that has prompted a reassessment of how Microsoft structures its strategic cloud deals.

Team Captable

Akshayakalpa grew big without growing fast. And that was always the plan

The 15-year-old organic dairy company is defying every rule, and several near-death experiences, to grow at a slow but steady pace of its own choosing. But can this approach survive in an increasingly fast-moving market?

Shivani Verma

This time it's serious: How kiranas are fighting back

Kiranas have realised the scale of the threat from the quick commerce juggernaut and are transforming themselves into micro-fulfillment centres to remain relevant and survive, but the shift will not be easy for all.

Anuj Suvarna

Hiding in plain sight: Urban Company’s rising product revenues

At the core of Asia’s largest home-services marketplace may be services, but its own line of products—from RO purifiers to mandated toolkits for its own service professionals—are now driving a quarter of its revenue

Shivani Verma

Degrees of deception: How AI is hurting India’s research credentials

Eleven of the world's 15 worst universities for research integrity are in India, as artificial intelligence makes creating fake papers easier than ever.

Parvathi Benu

Convinced that The Captable stories and insights
will give you the edge?

Convinced that The Captable stories
and insights will give you the edge?

Subscribe Now

Stories

Explore