Amitesh Jha named Instamart CEO; co-founder Phani Kishan to serve as chief of staff

Phani Kishan will lead Swiggy One among other initiatives

Swiggy co-founder Sriharsha Majety informed employees in an email on August 29 that Flipkart veteran Amitesh Jha will take over as Instamart CEO amid increasing competition in the quick commerce space. In a span of just one-and-a-half years, Swiggy Instamart has had three heads with the latest rejig.

In the same mail Majety also said that current Instamart head Phani Kishan will be taking on a broader role within the company.

“Phani will continue to be part of the M-team and will work closely with me on a new and timely challenge. He will be managing our Central Growth unit helping us unlock the next paradigm across our initiatives like the Swiggy One program amongst others. In addition to this, he will also be partnering with me closely as my Chief of Staff, again. I'm incredibly excited to have him contribute in this new capacity,” Majety said in the email which Moneycontrol has seen.

Moneycontrol earlier reported that foodtech giant Swiggy is in advanced stage of discussions to appoint Amitesh Jha as the head of its quick commerce business Instamart.

"As we prepare for the next wave of scale, we have lately been bringing on some really accomplished leaders ( Sairam, Himavant, and Mayank to name a few who bring a strong entrepreneurial mindset and relevant industry experience. I am now delighted to welcome Amitesh sha as the new CEO of Swiggy Instamart. Amitesh joins from Flipkart with an outstanding track record through the 14 years he's worked there," Majety's mail said.

Swiggy One is the company’s loyalty programme which competes with Zomato Gold.

The developments come at a time when quick commerce wars are intensifying. While Zomato’s Blinkit is currently the market leader with a market share of 40-45 percent, Swiggy Instamart occupies the number two spot with around 20-25 percent share. As per several analysts, companies like Zepto (which enjoys 15-20 percent market share) are not too far behind. Tata’s BB Now, Flipkart Minutes and Ola Consumer are the other giants that are ramping up operations to capitalise on the quick commerce boom.

Swiggy appointed Sairam Krishnamurthy as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Instamart, who is a retail and FMCG veteran.

He was the latest executive that Swiggy roped in from Amazon. It has hired leaders like Himavant Srikrishna Kurnala (SVP at Swiggy), Satheesh Raman (VP, Swiggy), Dipak Krishnamani (VP, Swiggy) and several others, across functions, from the e-commerce giant as product offerings grow.