Zepto elevates loyalty programme head Meel as chief business officer

Quick commerce unicorn Zepto on Friday announced the elevation of Devendra Meel, former senior vice-president and head of its loyalty programme, to chief business officer a year after he joined the startup.

In his new role, Meel will spearhead category management and foster brand partnerships, ensuring optimal assortment, pricing, availability, and growth of all core categories on the platform, the company said.

“After joining us a year ago, he (Meel) played a key role in scaling our advertising business to hundreds of crores in revenue and, more importantly, built out Zepto Pass end-to-end: from an idea to over five million subscribers today,” said Aadit Palicha, co-founder and chief executive officer, Zepto.

 

A former IIM-Bangalore graduate, Meel has previously led special initiatives at Zomato and Jio as well.

“Having a front-row seat in a company poised to redefine Internet India is the opportunity of a lifetime. I am deeply committed to this mission and will bring all my energy and dedication to it. Zepto’s meritocratic, fast-moving environment offers high-stakes challenges and the potential for 10X career growth,” said Meel, adding, “For those excited by such prospects, our business team is actively hiring across various roles.”

This comes at a time when Zepto is looking to strengthen its leadership ahead of its upcoming initial public offering (IPO) by hiring several senior-level employees across various categories, Business Standard had reported earlier.

As such, the company has reshuffled its top deck and has also witnessed a string of exits over the past few months.

In January this year, Nikhil Mittal — a former senior vice-president at Zepto — was promoted to chief technology officer.

In June, Zepto saw the departure of chief marketing officer Amritansu Nanda, as well as Viral Jhaveri, chief business officer and chief growth officer, and Manik Oberoi, vice-president of growth and retention.

Ashish Shah, Zepto’s former senior vice-president of finance who joined in June 2021, reportedly resigned in December 2023, subsequently assuming the role of chief financial officer at DealShare.

Zepto recently raised $665 million in Series F funding, valuing the company at $3.6 billion. The company is now preparing for its initial public offering in the next 12-15 months.

Ahead of its public listing, Zepto plans to ramp up hiring, aiming to add between 400 and 500 employees, focusing on engineering, product, category, growth, and marketing roles. The company currently boasts a team of 1,600 people.