Former Swiggy executive Karthik Gurumurthy raises $3 million from Matrix for new startup

During his time at Swiggy, along with Swiggy Mall, Karthik Gurumurthy was also tasked with building Swiggy Instamart, the company’s quick-commerce vertical, which gives him the experience required.

Karthik Gurumurthy, who led Swiggy's e-commerce unit (Mall) until December last year, has raised $3 million for his new offline retail startup, people aware of the developments told Moneycontrol. The round is being led by Matrix Partners India which is investing $2 million while the remaining amount will come in from a clutch of angel investors.

The round is still ongoing so the contours of the deal may change slightly before the final close, one of the people cited above said. Moneycontrol was first to report in November 2023 that Gurumurthy was leaving Swiggy after a three-and-a-half year stint to start up and was in talks with Accel and Matrix Partners India at that time.

Gurumurthy’s latest venture will not be very different from what Swiggy Instamart, the company's quick-commerce division which sells groceries and other items, does but will dabble in the offline space. His company, likely to be named Convenio, will be similar to what Aldi, a low-cost physical store model, does in Germany, the UK and other parts of Europe, but will sell only fresh produce.

“(I) have started my journey of solving fresh category retail in India – solving the consumer problem of providing good quality fresh, fruits, vegetables, dairy, bakery etc, at affordable prices,” Gurumurthy wrote in his latest LinkedIn update. During his time at Swiggy, along with Swiggy Mall, Gurumurthy was also tasked with building Swiggy Instamart which gives him the experience required.

Gurumurthy and Matrix Partners India did not reply to Moneycontrol’s queries seeking details about the funding round.

For Matrix Partners India – the VC firm that backs companies like Ola Electric, Razorpay, The Whole Truth, Country Delight and several others – this is the second time in recent months that it is betting on a senior executive quitting a large startup to start up.

Last month, Moneycontrol had reported that Vivek Sinha, former chief operating officer of Unacademy, has raised $11 million from Matrix Partners India and Lightspeed for his upskilling startup.

Not just Sinha and Gurumurthy, several other top executives have been leaving their startup jobs to become founders, a trend that Moneycontrol highlighted last year.

For instance, Swiggy’s former chief technology officer (CTO) Dale Vaz quit to start his own fintech company and raised $7 million from Accel and Elevation, as reported by Moneycontrol in May last year.

VC firms said that it is easier for senior executives to raise money because they have worked on building businesses in the past and have the knack to attract the right talent which makes it easier while venturing out on their own.