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

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.