Zepto elevates loyalty programme head Devendra Meel as chief business officer

Devendra Meel has been named as the chief business officer by Zepto.

Quick commerce unicorn Zepto has elevated Devendra Meel, senior vice president and head of its loyalty programme Pass, as the chief business officer a year after he joined the startup, which has several top-level exits in recent months.

Meel will spearhead category management and foster brand partnerships, ensure optimal assortment, pricing, availability, and growth of all core categories on the platform, the company said on July 12.

“Devendra has had an incredible run at Zepto. After joining us a year ago, he played a key role in scaling our advertising business to hundreds of crores in revenue and, more importantly, built out Zepto Pass end-to-end: from an idea to 5 million plus subscribers today," Zepto co-founder and chief executive officer Aadit Palicha said.

"Devendra has executed like an entrepreneur and treated Pass like his baby, working tirelessly six-seven days a week with the Pass team to make the economics sustainable, and brought the whole company together to get Pass launched in record time."

Meel joined Zepto in July 2023, according to his LinkedIn profile. He had worked was Zomato before that.

In the past six to seven months, several senior executives has left Zepto despite its fundraising blitzkrieg.

Meel takes over from Viral Jhaveri, who left Zepto in June after a two-and-a-half-year stint during which he held titles such as chief business officer and chief growth officer.

Divesh Sawhney has been appointed as chief growth officer.

Ashish Shah, a former senior vice president, recently joined DealShare as chief financial officer. He had joined Zepto in its early days in June 2021 and was instrumental in setting up the startup's finance operations.

Zepto recently raised $665 million at a valuation of $3.6 billion valuation, as investors look to double down on the booming quick commerce sector in India. In August, it raised $231 million at a valuation of $1.4 billion.

It has drawn investor interest for an additional $250 million in a fresh round that values the company at about $4.6 billion. The round, which can touch $400 million in size, will likely see private equity majors like General Catalyst and KKR join the company's cap table.

Zepto has said it will use the money to enter new markets such as Jaipur, Chandigarh, and Ahmedabad, while also expanding in cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru.