Karthik Gurumurthy, the visionary behind the successful growth of Swiggy Instamart from its inception in 2020 to an impressive valuation of nearly $1 billion, has recently secured $3 million (approximately INR 25 crore) in funding for his latest offline retail venture. The funding is led by Matrix Partners India along with support from a group of angel investors.
According to a report from Moneycontrol, citing sources, the funding round is currently in progress, and there may be slight adjustments to the details of the deal before its ultimate conclusion.
In November last year, it was reported that Gurumurthy, the Senior Vice President (SVP) at Swiggy, was set to depart from the foodtech giant to launch his own startup. This decision came after Gurumurthy took a sabbatical in March and returned to lead Swiggy’s hyperlocal commerce arm, Swiggy Mall, formerly known as Swiggy Maxx.
Gurumurthy, who graduated from BITS Pilani and holds a degree from the Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore, has previously held positions at the global consulting firm Kearney, confectionary major Mondelez International, and software giant Oracle.
Sources told Moneycontrol that Gurumurthy’s new venture, slated to be named Convenio, is set to follow a model similar to Aldi, a low-cost physical store, popular in Germany, the UK, and other parts of Europe. However, Convenio will carve its niche by specializing exclusively in the sale of fresh produce.
According to the report, the upcoming platform will function in the offline realm and will replicate the model established by Swiggy.
“(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.
The start of this new venture adds to the ongoing trend of entrepreneurs and executives leaving their current positions to launch fresh startups within the third-largest startup ecosystem globally. In recent years, notable entrepreneurs such as Kunal Shah (transitioning from Freecharge to CRED), Jitendra Gupta (moving from Citrus Pay to Jupiter), Anant Goel (shifting from Milkbasket to Sorted), and others have successfully raised funds to start their new endeavors.
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Within the Indian startup ecosystem, these founders are poised to thrive, placing less emphasis on vanity metrics such as valuations. They are also well-positioned to mentor and guide the new wave of entrepreneurs entering the domain.
Earlier this week, Gautam Sinha, the former chief executive officer of Times Internet, launched a novel artificial intelligence (AI) venture named SimpleO.ai. The primary goal of SimpleO.ai is to simplify contract management for enterprises. Leveraging generative AI, the venture aims to provide a comprehensive dashboard to oversee the myriad aspects of contracts, including risks, obligations, service-level agreements, audits, compliance, and governance requirements associated with the numerous contracts signed by enterprises.
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