Swiggy Instamart appoints Sairam Krishnamurthy as COO

Quick commerce operator Swiggy Instamart on Monday appointed Sairam Krishnamurthy as Senior VP and the first Chief Operating Officer (COO) as it looks to revamp its quick commerce arm amidst stiff competition. 

Before this, Krishnamurthy was the COO at More Retail and has held positions at Ola Mobility and Hindustan Unilever.

In his new role, Sairam will lead and oversee Instamart’s operating units, which include dark store operations, infrastructure operations, city growth, and expansion, the company said in a statement.

"Sai’s extensive experience and impressive track record as an operator, leading cross-functional teams in a high-growth environment make him an ideal fit for Swiggy Instamart at this juncture of our journey," said Girish Menon, CHRO, Swiggy, in a statement.

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Speaking about his new role, Krishnamurthy said, "I am thrilled to join Team Swiggy in a business that I believe represents the future of grocery retail. As an ardent consumer turned operator, I am energized by the opportunity to drive profitable growth for Swiggy Instamart."

In the past few months, the foodtech platform added fresh talent across its executive suite, including tapping Jio Mart executive Himavant Srikrishna Kurnala as SVP and Product Head for Instamart.

Mayank Rajvaidya, who was leading Amazon’s Consumables Private Brands, was appointed as VP of Fruits and Vegetables. It also tapped ex-Flipkart executive Manu Sasidharan, Associate Vice President of the FMCG Category, for Instamart.

The IPO-bound company competes with Zomato’s Blinkit and Zepto in the quick commerce space and has been slowly losing market share to both. Blinkit, which currently accounts for 22% of Zomato’s total revenue, clocked significant growth in the April to June quarter after reaching break-even in March 2024. Blinkit's revenue more than doubled to Rs 942 crore during Q1 FY25 from Rs 384 crore last year.

Zepto, which recently raised $665 million in funding, had earlier said its GMV had multiplied year-on-year to a base of more than $1 billion. Additionally, the company also reported that nearly 75% of the its stores, dark stores or warehouses achieved full EBITDA positivity as of May 2024.

This comes after media reports of Amazon India in talks with Swiggy to purchase the latter’s quick commerce arm or participate in the company’s pre-IPO round. The deal comes at a good time for Swiggy’s early backer Prosus, which is likely to pare its stake down from 33% to less than 26% to avoid promoter status after the company goes public.

As quick commerce companies continue to capture marketshare from traditional ecommerce businesses, it's increasingly likely that established players will seek to integrate quick commerce into their operations through acquisitions in a bid to capitalize on synergies from both models and enhance overall performance.

(The copy has been updated to add some context)