BENGALURU: Two months after Zomato raised $1.3 billion in a record-breaking IPO, the food delivery major’s Chief Operating officer (COO) Gaurav Gupta, who was elevated to the position of a founder in 2019, has quit the company. Gupta, was one of the senior management executives who became the face of the company during its Initial Public Offering announcements and finalising the foodtech firm’s business strategy post-IPO.
The development comes days after Zomato confirmed that it will wind up its in-app grocery delivery business, Hyperpure, and the food supplements vertical, Nutraceuticals — both divisions were headed by Gupta.
Sources said that Zomato’s CEO, Deepinder Goyal has been pushing for profitability, at a time when its dine-out businesses dealt a heavy blow by the Covid pandemic. “Both Hyperpure and Nutraceutical verticals have failed to achieve any growth and the focus will be on the core-food delivery model,” as per the persons privy to the matter.
Although, both Goyal and Gupta shared cordial messages in a blogpost put out by the Gurgaon-headquartered firm, the top executives reportedly had a fallout. “I am taking a new turn in my life and will be starting a new chapter, taking a lot from this defining chapter of my life – the last 6 years at Zomato.
We have a great team now to take Zomato forward and it’s time for me to take an alternate path in my journey. I am very emotional as I write this and don’t think any words can do justice to how I am feeling right now,” Gupta said.
Zomato reported a net consolidated loss of Rs 356.2 crore as against the loss of Rs 130.8 crore in Q4, FY21. The firm’s loss for FY21 stood at Rs 816 crore, according to first quarterly results. The consumer internet firm said that the losses are largely due to non-cash Employee stock option programme (ESOP) expenses which have increased due to significant ESOP grants.