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

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.