Zomato founder-CEO Deepinder Goyal joins billionaire club

Deepinder Singh Goyal has become a billionaire after a record rally in Zomato shares since last year. The stock has jumped over 300 percent since the low of July 2023. Deepinder Singh currently serves as Zomato's Founder & CEO.

Deepinder Goyal has become a billionaire after a record rally in Zomato shares since last year. The stock has jumped over 300 percent since the low of July 2023.   Deepinder Singh currently serves as Zomato's Founder & CEO.

The stock set a new record of Rs230 on the BSE and gained as much as 2 percent during the day, with its market cap surging past Rs1.8 trillion. With this, Goyal, 41, has become India’s richest professional manager with his networth surging past Rs8,300 crore. Currently, Goyal has 36.95 crore shares or 4.24 percent stake in the company.

The stock surged since the start of 2023 amid expectations its quick commerce business Blinkit may continue to outperform peers and turn profitable earlier than expected. The company had earlier said Blinkit may turn EBITDA break even in the first quarter of fiscal 2025. The food delivery business being a profitable unit has also boosted investor sentiment.

Zomato's Blinkit quick commerce business is growing rapidly, ahead of peers like Swiggy Instamart and Zepto, with no signs of slowing which is further cementing investor optimism. Recent reports indicate the company will increase investments even further, likely after Blinkit achieves break-even in Adj. EBITDA. This strategy is expected to propel Blinkit to surpass Zomato's food delivery business in terms of gross order value (GOV) sooner than anticipated, while also strengthening its position against increasing competition, analysts expect.

Analysts anticipate the company prioritizing growth investments over immediate profitability expansion to seize untapped market opportunities and establish long-term dominance. As a result, Blinkit's path to sustainable Adj. EBITDA margins (4-5% of GOV) may take longer compared to its food delivery margins post-break-even. However, various factors like advertising income, take-rates, operating leverage at store/warehouse and corporate levels ensure gradual profitability enhancement, even with reinvestment in efficiencies in the near term.

According to a recent Goldman Sachs note, Blinkit, the quick commerce firm owned by Zomato, now has a higher implied value than Zomato's core food delivery business. Blinkit is valued at $13 billion, up from $2 billion in March 2023, with a per-share value of Rs 119, surpassing food delivery at Rs 98.

Zomato’s food delivery EBITDA margin is among the highest globally, and similar results are expected for Blinkit. Goldman Sachs predicts Blinkit’s gross order value (GOV) will grow at a 53% CAGR from FY2024-27, with GOV and EBITDA surpassing food delivery by FY29. Blinkit, acquired by Zomato in 2022 for $568 million, has significantly improved its financial health, now estimated to be worth $13 billion, the highest in Zomato’s basket of businesses.

From a middle-class background, Deepinder Singh Goyal, an IIT Delhi graduate in Mathematics and Computing, was inspired by his passion for food to create an app for convenient meal ordering. While at Bain and Company, he co-founded FoodieBay.com, later renamed Zomato.com, after recognizing the potential to streamline food ordering processes. With initial funding from Info Edge in 2011, Goyal and his team left their jobs to focus on Zomato's growth. The company quickly rose to prominence in India's food tech industry, becoming a unicorn in 2018.