IPO-bound Zepto appoints Airtel’s Akhil Gupta to company board

IPO-bound Zepto appoints Airtel’s Akhil Gupta to company board

Quick commerce unicorn Zepto has appointed Akhil Gupta, vice chairman of Bharti Enterprises – the parent company of Bharti Airtel – as an independent director to its board, as it prepares for an initial public offering (IPO).

Currently, Zepto co-founders Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, alongside Avra founder Anu Hariharan, and Nexus Venture Partners co-founder and Managing Director Suvir Sujan, are among the other board members of Zepto.

As part of his role as Vice Chairman, Gupta has led the formation of various partnerships for Bharti with leading international operators like British Telecom, Telecom Italia, Singapore Telecom and Vodafone, in addition to induction of leading financial investors like Warburg Pincus, Temasek, KKR, Qatar Foundation Endowment, AIF and Sequoia, among many other private equity funds.

Notably, Gupta has even spearheaded the successful public listings of Bharti Airtel (2002), Bharti Infratel (2012) and Airtel Africa (2019), and is expected to lend his expertise to Zepto as the firm looks to make its stock market debut later this year

Zepto’s appointments have not been limited to strengthening its board. The company has, over the last few years, elevated several executives to senior positions.

Zepto didnt respond to Moneycontrol's queries.

In July last year, the quick commerce major promoted Devendra Meel, senior vice president and head of its loyalty programme Pass, to chief business officer a year after he joined the startup. Before that, in January, former senior vice presidents Nikhil Mittal and Divesh Sawhney were promoted as chief technology officer and chief growth officer, respectively.

However, the company has also seen a string of top level exits during the same period. In June 2024, Zepto saw the departure of chief marketing officer Amritansu Nanda, as well as Viral Jhaveri, chief business officer and chief growth officer, and Manik Oberoi, V-P of growth and retention.

Ashish Shah, Zepto’s former senior V-P of finance who joined in June 2021, resigned in December 2023, subsequently assuming the role of chief financial officer at DealShare.

IPO-bound Zepto recently flipped its base back to India from Singapore, has been on a fundraising spree. The company as much as raised $1.35 billion in a span of five months. The Bengaluru-based company raised $665 million in June 2024 from Glade Brook Capital, The StepStone Group, Nexus Venture Partners and others and then went on to close a $340 million round in August 2024 from General Catalyst and others.

It then secured $350 million from Motilal Oswal, Ranjan Pai’s Claypond Capital and other Indian investors.

The company is also in talks with several top mutual fund houses to raise another $300 million in a secondary round, as it looks to get more domestic shareholders on its cap table to avoid regulatory scrutiny during IPO. The company’s gross merchandise value (GMV) is now close to $4 billion, a 300 percent year-on-year increase.

The move to have enough cash balance and maintain a strong balance sheet is understandable since Zepto competes with larger rivals such as Zomato’s Blinkit, Flipkart Minutes, Swiggy Instamart, Tata BigBasket and others in a red-hot market which has seen multiple players pour in millions of dollars to gain market share.

The quick commerce industry, which is just about four years old, is already seeing consumption worth over $6 billion and is projected to grow to a $25-30 billion opportunity over the coming years, analysts have underscored.

As the space involves, companies are expanding operations and trying to be one up against rivals. Which player emerges as the winner remains to be seen.