Swiggy sees another high-level exit as senior V-P Anuj Rathi quits

Anuj Rathi, the senior vice president (SVP) of revenue and growth at Swiggy, has moved on after more than seven years at the food-delivery company.

“After a career-defining journey of seven years with Swiggy, I’ve decided to hang up my boots here,” said Rathi, in a LinkedIn post. “It’s been an amazing ride and I couldn’t be luckier to work with some of the best individuals to deliver convenience to Indians.”

Rathi’s move is among a slew of exits of senior executives at the SoftBank-backed firm. In May this year, Ashish Lingamneni stepped down from Swiggy as vice president of brand, product, market, and sustainability. He had joined the food aggregator platform as assistant vice president of marketing. Nishad Kenkre, vice president and head of revenue and growth, Instamart, also left the Bengaluru-based firm after a four-year stint. Instamart is the company’s grocery delivery platform.

In April, Swiggy’s chief technology officer, Dale Vaz, resigned after nearly five years at the company to pursue his own venture. Swiggy senior vice president, Madhusudhan Rao, who has been with the firm for more than four years, will be the new CTO.

In May, Swiggy roped in Aparna Giridhar as vice president of marketing. Giridhar had worked at Unilever and replaced Lingamneni. Swiggy elevated Sreeram Suresh to take over Kenkre’s role.

“When I started here, Swiggy was a two-year-old start-up—operating in a few cities and learning to deliver in a hockey-stick growth environment,” said Rathi. “Every month and every year has been a new challenge and a new learning opportunity for me professionally and personally.”

Swiggy’s losses jumped 80 per cent year-on-year in FY23, even as gross merchandise value (GMV) of its food delivery business grew 26 per cent, the company’s biggest investor, Prosus, said in its annual financial report in June.

“Our share of Swiggy’s trading loss increased to $180 million (FY22: $100 million), driven by investment in Instamart, which peaked in the year,” Prosus said. This translates to an overall loss of around $545 million for the food aggregator during the year.

The investor further said: “Our share of Swiggy’s revenue grew 40 per cent to $297 million,” from $212 million, “reflecting higher average order values and increased revenue from delivery fees and advertising sales.” This brings the food delivery firm’s overall revenue to around $900 million.

Swiggy’s core restaurant food delivery business, Prosus said, recorded GMV growth of 26 per cent, while Instamart—its quick commerce vertical—grew its GMV by 459 per cent.