Swiggy Instamart appoints Sairam Krishnamurthy as chief operating officer

Krishnamurthy's appointment follows a series of senior hires at the quick commerce platform

Swiggy Instamart, the quick commerce arm of IPO-bound food and grocery delivery firm Swiggy, has appointed Sairam Krishnamurthy as the firm’s senior vice president and chief operating officer.

Krishnamurthy will oversee Swiggy Instamart’s operating units, which include dark store operations, infrastructure operations, city growth and expansion.

“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, chief human resources officer at Swiggy.

“We welcome him to the team and look forward to his contributions in taking Swiggy Instamart to the next level of growth,” Menon said.

 

Krishnamurthy said that in just four years, Swiggy Instamart has become an integral part of consumers’ lives. He said it represents the future of grocery retail.

“As an ardent consumer turned operator, I am energised by the opportunity to drive profitable growth for Swiggy Instamart,” said Krishnamurthy.

“I look forward to collaborating with the team to unlock the immense potential of the business and lead it into the next phase of growth.”

Krishnamurthy brings over 18 years of experience in leadership roles spanning FMCG, consumer tech, and retail. Previously, he served as the chief operating officer of the supermarket business at More Retail, where he also held the position of chief merchandising officer before that. His career includes key roles at Ola Mobility as Head of India Supply and a 14-year tenure at Hindustan Unilever Limited in various roles in sales, marketing, and innovation. Krishnamurthy holds an engineering degree from BITS Pilani and a PGDM from IIM Bangalore.

Sairam’s appointment follows a series of senior hires at Swiggy Instamart. In the past few months, the quick commerce platform has strengthened its leadership team with the addition of Himavant Srikrishna Kurnala as senior vice president of product and business, Aakash Bhotika as vice president-technical advisor, Mayank Rajvaidya as vice president of fruits and vegetables, and Manu Sasidharan as associate vice president of the FMCG Category for Instamart.

Bengaluru-based Swiggy had confidentially filed initial public offering (IPO) papers for Rs 10,400 crore (approximately $1.25 billion) and is likely to go public in a few weeks, according to sources.

American investment firm Invesco, which led Swiggy’s previous funding round, has marginally reduced the fair value of the food delivery giant as of April 30, compared to a quarter ago.

Swiggy raised $700 million in Invesco-led funding in January 2022, which made the Indian company a decacorn (a startup valued at over $10 billion) by doubling its valuation to $10.7 billion.

Earlier this year, Invesco marked up the valuation of IPO-bound Swiggy for the third consecutive time to $12.7 billion, a 19 per cent increase from what the company was valued at during its last fundraising, according to regulatory filings.

After facing a spate of valuation cuts early last year due to high cash burn and poor margins, Swiggy has been on a path of financial recovery as it gears up for an over $1 billion IPO this year. As such, its investors have been consecutively marking up Swiggy's valuation over the last year.