Swiggy appoints Ashwath Swaminathan as chief growth and marketing officer

Food and grocery delivery platform Swiggy has hired Ashwath Swaminathan as the chief growth and marketing officer as the company strengthens its leadership in preparation for its initial public offering.

Swaminathan has several years of experience in the consumer brands space. Most recently, he served as the vice president of the oral care and deodorants business at FMCG firm Hindustan Unilever Limited.

In the new role, Swaminathan will be responsible for executing Swiggy’s growth and marketing strategy, designed to engage new and returning customers, and exploring collaborations to strengthen the firm's market position.

“Ashwath brings with him the right experience and a strong track record of strengthening consumer brands and growth marketing through data-driven insights and strategic collaborations. He joins Swiggy at a time of unprecedented opportunity, and we’re excited by the critical role he will play in bringing our mission of unparalleled convenience to life,” said Sriharsha Majety, Group CEO of Swiggy.

Swiggy has also added Anirban Roy as the vice president of growth, revenue, category, and Swiggy Instamart and Dipak Krishnamani as the vice president of Swiggy Mall.

The on-demand convenience platform is gearing up for a public-market listing later in the year, following the footsteps of rival Zomato, which was listed on the bourses in 2021.

Swiggy recently made several changes to its board including the appointment of Mallika Srinivasan, Chairman and Managing Director of TAFE; Shailesh Haribhakti, Chairman of Shailesh Haribhakti and Associates; and Sahil Barua, Managing Director and CEO of Delhivery; to its board as independent directors.

Swiggy reported a 44% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 8,264.6 crore in the financial year ended March 2023—when it also marked its first-ever profitable month. 

The firm's losses widened by a marginal 15% to Rs 4,179.3 crore from Rs 3,628.9 crore in the year-ago period, weighed down by rising expenditure.

In March last year, CEO Majety said the Prosus- and Invesco-backed firm had marked its first profitable month after 14 years since its inception. 

"This is a milestone for food delivery globally, not just for us, as Swiggy has become one of the very few global food delivery platforms to achieve profitability in less than nine years since its inception," Majety had written in a blog post, adding that the company now looks to gain a stronger foothold in Tier II and III markets. 

Rival Zomato attained a positive bottomline in the June quarter, bringing about some much-needed cheer in the foodtech ecosystem, YourStory had reported in December.