Phani Kishan Addepalli, one of the Co-founders of Swiggy, has taken over the role of heading the company’s Instamart quick commerce business. This comes after Karthik Gurumurthy, who was previously in charge of Instamart, stepped aside to take a sabbatical.
Addepalli has been with Swiggy for six years and was promoted to the role of Co-founder in July 2021. He has also been heading the company’s InsanelyGood business since October 2021.
Swiggy’s Instamart competes with other quick commerce players such as Zomato’s Blinkit and Zepto. According to a LinkedIn post by Gurumurthy on March 31, Instamart was almost a billion-dollar business.
Phani Kishan Addepalli, Co-founder, wrote, “Today business continues to grow, great relationship with our brand partners and with few of our stores already being profitable, it just feels how the seed germinated into a sampling and is now a big strong tree. Lot of compromises on physical & mental well being”.
He added, “I plan to take a sabbatical now to come back afresh and build something (0-1), something which I have loved… Live back and play back that memories of 2020 and 2021.”
“I take this break to rejuvenate myself through this sabbatical (and not because of the 13 Mn$ gap :D).. we value our people a lot and want to build a sports team with a heart.”
Swiggy has been looking to cut down costs recently, as it laid off 380 people two months ago. The move to have Addepalli take over as head of Instamart could be part of this effort to streamline operations.
Despite the cost-cutting measures, the quick commerce segment has been growing rapidly. A November 2022 report by Prosus stated that quick commerce had grown 20 times in the first half of 2022, with GMV reaching $257 million for that period. However, Swiggy’s losses for FY22 have widened to INR 3,628.9 crore, according to data from Tofler.
Swiggy’s decision to have Addepalli take over as head of Instamart comes at a time when the company is looking to reduce costs. While the quick commerce segment has been growing rapidly, Swiggy’s losses have also been widening. It remains to be seen how the company will navigate these challenges going forward.