Deepinder Goyal, the CEO and co-founder of Zomato, posted an odd job opening on his social media pages on November 20. Goyal stated in his posts that he is seeking a chief of staff who will be required to pay INR 20 lakh instead of receiving a salary for the first year.
The posts quickly went viral when the job application caught people’s attention. Among the many attributes included in the job description were “a lot of common sense, communication skills, empathy, and not a lot of experience.” It stated that the chosen individual would supervise every aspect of establishing Zomato’s future. However, the INR 20 lakh “fee” and the zero salary package for the first year were what attracted internet users’ attention.
Why Zomato Opted for Such Posting?
Instead of applying for a glamorous, well-paying job that will make applicants look cool in front of themselves or the people they want to impress, Zomato thinks that people should do it for the learning opportunities it offers. Regardless of their success in this position, consider this a fast-track learning programme for individuals on a personal and professional level. Additionally, the company prefers learners above resume builders for this position, as per the post.
Furthermore, Goyal stated that the “fees” would be sent directly to the company’s Feeding India effort and that the corporation is not attempting to save money by charging the applicants. The chosen individual will receive an additional INR 50 lakh from Zomato to donate to their preferred charity. The CEO added that the emoluments would be modifiable at the start of the second year and that the chosen chief of staff would begin receiving the regular wage (more than INR 50 lakh) at that point. However, both company executives and online users had significant reactions to the posting.
Mix Reaction
Some praised the action, but others expressed doubt and questioned the job posting. The entire social media domain was busted with comments and opinions: “The job posting seems like a really “maverick” way to find the right mindset candidate,” Tata iQ’s chief people officer (CPO), Amit Sachdev, told one of the media outlets. Limiting the quantity of applicants is the sole goal of establishing the financial requirements. This streamlines the entire process and provides you with a short list of potential customers right away. Additionally, according to Sachdev, the posting disqualifies any applicants who are only interested in gaining money or experience.
Similarly, a small number of banks would be prepared to finance the job role, in contrast to traditional educational courses, as noted by some users. Then, there were questions about whether the job posting broke any labour regulations, such as the Industrial Disputes Act, the Minimum Wages Act, and the Payment of Wages Act. Many drew attention to the fact that failing to pay an employee’s salary for a year while collecting fees carries severe penalties for coercive work practices, including criminal culpability and legal action.
On November 4, 2024, Zomato’s CEO, Deepinder Goyal, claimed that a “manual typing error on the vendor’s side” was the reason behind the discovery of 90 packets of button mushrooms branded with a “future packing date” during a food safety regulator’s raid at the company’s Hyperpure warehouse in Hyderabad. 90 of these button mushroom packets were found to have inaccurate packaging dates by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) team. Hyperpure is a business-to-business (B2B) vertical offered by Zomato.
Goyal said in a post on the social media site X that the company’s warehouse team had already discovered these button mushrooms and had rejected them during an internal quality control (QC) process.
Typing Error on Vendor’s Side
This is not typical and was caused by a vendor-side manual typing error. However, the vendor in question has been removed from the company’s database. Goyal went on to say that Hyperpure’s personnel were able to spot this problem early on, thanks to the company’s strict internal policies and technological processes.
Goyal said that they are dedicated to maintaining industry standards for food safety and are focused on ensuring that product quality is maintained throughout the supply chain.
“We received an A+ rating, and I’m not sure why the media is talking about these few packets of mushrooms, worth Rs 7,200 (out of the crores of inventory in the warehouse), that were never going to reach customers,” the co-founder of Zomato stated.
Hazardous Conditions at Zomato Hyperpure Warehouse in Hyderabad
On October 29, the food safety officials paid a visit to the Zomato Hyperpure warehouse located in Kukatpally, Hyderabad. It was discovered that the establishment was using a state licence to operate.
The officials observed food safety concerns at the warehouse during their visit. Team reported that 18 kg of button mushrooms with a “future date of packing” were discovered. The label read ‘October 30, 2024’, yet the inspection was conducted on October 29.
In addition, the team observed that the warehouse was “open directly to the outside environment without a proper insect-proof screen” and that house flies were present inside. Furthermore, some of the food workers were discovered without their aprons and hair caps.
This episode follows a previous finding of expired items during an inspection at another Blinkit warehouse that is also run by Zomato. In response to the FSSAI’s findings, Blinkit pledged to take corrective steps. Goyal maintains that despite recent criticism, Zomato takes safety standards seriously and says tech-driven quality checks shield customers from the labelling error. Zomato’s leadership is dedicated to improving procedures to prevent future issues because food safety is still a delicate topic in India, especially during festive seasons.
Co-founder and CEO of Zomato, a meal delivery service, Deepinder Goyal, has launched a new business called “Continue” to enter the health and mental fitness sector. However, the company has already cleared that Zomato will work as a separate business entity.
The new company’s registration name is “Unslope Advisors Private Ltd.” The company was founded on April 7, 2024, and has two promoters, Goyal and Ashish Goel, according to Registrar of Companies (RoC) papers that a media source was able to access. They gave the business an initial investment of INR 50 lakh.
Organisational Framework
Goyal is listed as a director in the company’s filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), and Akriti Mehta and Simrandeep Singh, who are employees of Zomato, serve as additional directors. Singh joined Zomato six years ago, while Mehta has worked with the company for seven years.
Although his precise function has not been made clear, Ashish Goel, a former executive from Zomato and Blinkit, is also a part of Continue. The business has INR 50 lakh in authorised and paid-up capital, according to records. The paid-up capital is the amount that shareholders have paid, whereas the authorised capital is the utmost number of shares that the company can issue.
Giving Priority to Health and Wellness
Continue will emphasise numerous health objectives, including preventive health measures, nutrition, sleep monitoring, and mental wellness. The venture’s focus is in line with Goyal’s personal interest in longevity and prolonging human lifespan.
Goyal clarified in an online statement that Continue acts as his personal wellness and health team, assisting him in maintaining his best performance. He also mentioned that the company is developing new tools and insights and that once they have enough proof, they may decide to make their discoveries public.
Companions in Business and Industry
Goyal has already invested in other businesses, such as Ultrahuman, a firm that makes wearables that analyse fitness variables like heart rate, sleep, and nutrition. Continue is his most recent venture into the health and wellness sector.
Since making his initial investment in Ultrahuman in 2021, Goyal has grown his ownership of the business, now owning more than 8%, according to the most recent data. With initiatives like Fitso, which was eventually acquired by Curefit, Zomato’s CEO has already demonstrated an interest in health and fitness. Other former Zomato executives have also started their own health-related businesses, such as co-founders Pankaj Chaddah (Shyft) and Gaurav Gupta (Gabit), both of which have drawn a lot of interest from investors.
Zero Effect on Zomato’s Revenue
Goyal clarified that Zomato is not a part of Continue and is still concentrating on its primary business segments, which include food delivery, Blinkit, Hyperpure, and District, notwithstanding the debut of the new initiative. According to a Zomato representative, the company is not expanding into new markets and operates completely independently of Continue.
Zomato, the popular food delivery service, introduced a new feature called Zomato for Enterprise (ZFE) on August 28, to help corporate personnel with orders linked to their work.
Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal announced the tool, which would simplify the monitoring of company food expenses, in a post on X (previously Twitter). The service’s goal, as pointed out by Zomato, is to make companies’ reimbursement processes easier.
In an X post, Goyal announced, “Excited to introduce Zomato for Enterprise (ZFE),” a tool that helps businesses with food spending.
The majority of Zomato purchases placed by corporate personnel are for business purposes and necessitate reimbursement, which he elaborated on by saying the process can be time-consuming and tedious.
Appreciating this development Puneet Kumar Kanojia, Director Sakshar Media and BollyBites VadaPav stated, “This initiative reflects a deep understanding of the needs of modern businesses. By eliminating the need for traditional reimbursement methods, Zomato is setting a new standard for convenience and operational efficiency in the corporate world.”
What This New Feature Will Offer?
Rather than paying in advance, workers can now charge their food orders to their employers. Companies can also use Zomato for Enterprise to hire new staff, allocate funds for orders, and lay down detailed rules for placing orders.
Goyal has informed onX that ZFE enables employees to directly bill their employer for their business orders without incurring any monetary obligations. Among many other things, ZFE allows businesses to hire staff, establish budgets, and specify ordering procedures. With ZFE, your staff may enjoy more ease while we handle everything else, all while maintaining perfect transparency (SIC).
In addition, he urged others to embrace this new function and brought up the fact that more than a hundred prominent companies are currently utilising ZFE.
“Already, ZFE is being used by more than 100 leading companies. We greatly appreciate their opinion, as it has played a crucial role in shaping this program. Every company’s top executive is cordially invited to give ZFE a shot. To begin, please contact us at enterprise@zomato.com,” Goyal said.
Zomato Completes Takeover of Paytm’s Ticketing Business
As Zomato has been on the edge of expanding its business, this new feature has also been streamlined in accordance with this expansion strategy. According to a story that was published by Startuptalky earlier this month, Zomato has completed the acquisition of Paytm Insider, the entertainment ticketing division of the financial technology giant Paytm. This information was confirmed by both firms in regulatory filings.
To broaden its “going-out” business and create new use cases, Zomato disclosed its intention to buy Paytm Insider the previous week. The acquisition is expected to cost roughly INR 2,048 crore.
Zomato has completed the acquisition of Paytm’s movie ticketing business, Orbgen Technologies Pvt Ltd (OTPL), for about INR 1,264.6 crore. Additionally, Zomato has purchased Paytm’s events ticketing division, Wasteland Entertainment Pvt Ltd, for approximately INR 783.8 crore.
The newly purchased companies will shortly be rebranded under a new going-out app named “District,” which is scheduled to be developed and released within the next few weeks.
Intercity Legends, a Zomato service that brought famous food items from 10 Indian towns to customers all throughout the nation, will be shutting operations immediately. The service was momentarily halted and then reinstated in July with some adjustments to make orders more viable, but now it has been stopped.
According to a tweet by Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal on social media site X (formerly Twitter), the company has chosen to immediately terminate the Zomato Legends service after two years of testing and failing to achieve product market fit.
Update on Zomato Legends – after two years of trying, not finding product market fit, we have decided to shut down the service with immediate effect.
It Is Not the First Time That Firm Opted for Shutdown
At a time when Zomato is branching into a variety of other competing sectors in order to increase revenue and consolidate its position in the market, Intercity Legends has been shut down. In the beginning, when Intercity Legends was first released in 2022, there was no minimum order threshold. However, in order to increase profitability, a minimum order value of INR 5,000 was implemented. Zomato determined that the initiative did not make any sense from a financial standpoint.
This is yet another service that Zomato has terminated; in the past, the company has also terminated previous trial programmes. The logistics service known as Xtreme, which was situated in Gurugram and enabled merchants to send and receive small packages, was cancelled by the corporation since it did not produce the results that were desired.
Zomato Legends at the Time of Launch
At the time when the intercity service was initially introduced, the corporation had a positive outlook on the offering. It is said that a jewel can be found in every nook and cranny of India.
“The sky is the limit to how big Intercity Legends can become,” the business had stated in a blog. “With over a hundred airports and a rich spread of the most iconic dishes that India has to offer, the number of possibilities is virtually limitless.”
In the meantime, Zomato is devoting resources and attention to other areas of the company. The meal delivery giant Zomato announced on August 21 that it will purchase Paytm’s entertainment and ticketing business for a total of INR 2,048 crore in an all-cash transaction. This comes as the food delivery giant hopes to grow its footprint in the ‘going-out’ market, while the troubled fintech major seeks to concentrate on its core financial services offerings with the acquisition.
Zomato on the Financial Front
In terms of revenue, Zomato has grown substantially. In the first quarter of the fiscal year 2024-25 (Q1FY25), the company’s consolidated profit increased significantly from the previous quarter’s INR 175 crore to INR 253 crore. Zomato achieved its first ever profit in the same period last year (Q1FY24), albeit a small one of INR 2 crore.
Zomato’s operational revenue also increased significantly, increasing from INR 2,416 crore in Q1FY24 to INR 4,206 crore in Q1FY25, a 74% year-on-year rise. The prior quarter’s reported revenue for the company was INR 3,562 crore. Although revenue increased to INR 3,636 crore in Q1FY24 and INR 2,612 crore in Q1FY24, overall expenditures increased to INR 4,203 crore in Q1FY25.
By launching a new app called District, the food aggregator Zomato is expanding its operations beyond its main business of providing food delivery and quick shopping. The “going-out” business, which includes dining, movies, sports ticketing, live performances, shopping, vacations, and other activities, will be consolidated by introducing this new vertical space.
Deepinder Goyal, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, made the announcement in a letter to the shareholders. In the letter, he stated, “We believe that there is an opportunity to further expand our going-out offering, building on with our dining-out business.”
Other use cases for customers in the going out area include things like going to the cinema, purchasing tickets to live performances, shopping, staying at home, and other similar activities. Some of these use cases have already been established, and others are currently being developed.
In addition, Goyal stated, “We intend to do exactly that with our new District (by Zomato) app, which is to build a one-stop destination app for going out.”
This might be a game-changer for each of these use cases. Going out has the potential to become Zomato’s third-largest business-to-consumer (B2C) business if we are successful in executing this plan.
Zomato’s Recent Financial Report Card
The major food technology company declared a net profit of INR 253 crore, which is significantly more than the net profit that it had posted during the same quarter of the previous year. Over the June quarter, Zomato’s revenue reached INR 4,206 crore, which is a year-on-year rise of approximately 74% compared to the previous year’s figure of INR 1,416 crore.
During the quarter, Zomato’s Gross Order Value (GOV) reached INR 15,455 crore, representing a 53% rise. Specifically, the organization defines GOV as the aggregated GOV of consumer-facing enterprises like meal delivery, quick-commerce, and going out.
It is essential to keep in mind that Zomato has not developed a great app in the same way that its competitors Swiggy and BigBasket have. The Going-out business vertical of Zomato is a combination of the Zomato Live and Dining-out business verticals.
As a result of this decision, Zomato is now in competition with apps such as BookMyShow. In June, Zomato confirmed the exchanges that it is, in fact, in negotiations with Paytm to purchase the latter’s media and ticketing operations.
In the constantly shifting business landscape, a handful of figures stand out as much as Deepinder Goyal, the brilliant mind behind Zomato. Goyal’s experience as an entrepreneur and investor has been nothing short of inspirational. After successfully navigating the obstacles of creating and developing Zomato, he has smoothly shifted into a role beyond his own companies. His passion for encouraging innovation and helping emerging entrepreneurs has shown itself through an excellent portfolio of startup investments.
Deepinder Goyal is the co-founder and CEO of Zomato, India’s most prominent restaurant aggregator and food delivery service. Zomato operates in more than ten thousand cities in India and twenty-four other countries worldwide.
Deepinder Goyal was born on January 26, 1983, in Muktsar, Punjab, India. He graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, with a degree in Mathematics and Computing in 2005. In addition to his academic background, Deepinder Goyal is well-known for his tremendous professional achievements, both in the field of gastroenterology and in the business field.
While working at Bain & Company, Deepinder Goyal noticed that customers were waiting in long lines to order meals, which gave him the idea to launch Zomato. When he and his colleague Pankaj Chaddah saw that this issue needed to be solved, they began the business in 2008 under the name Foodiebay. The company first offered restaurant listings and recommendations on its platform, which eventually grew to include food delivery and restaurant discovery services.
Deepinder Goyal has made investments in a number of businesses. His investment portfolio is diverse, spanning consumer and enterprise applications, health technology, and more. It includes companies such as:
Airblack
Startup Name
Airblack
Industry
Skill development
Founded
2019
Airblack – Deepinder Goyal Funded Startup
Airblack is India’s largest outcome-driven skill development brand. It was established in 2019 by Pulkit Pujara and Jaiswal. Airblack aims to assist micro-entrepreneurs and creators by providing access to courses from verified beauty and culinary arts specialists. The company has over twenty-five thousand students from over five hundred cities enrolled in these courses. Most of them are women who have gone on to work as independent contractors, web content writers, or owners of home salons. Deepinder Goyal is the largest investor of Airblack, which has raised 6.7 million US dollars in investments.
Allo Health
Startup Name
Allo Health
Industry
Healthcare
Founded
2021
Allo Health – Deepinder Goyal Funded Startup
Allo Health is India’s first clinic exclusively devoted to sexual health. It is a digital health clinic that aims to normalize sexual wellness by providing personalized, judgment-free, and private healthcare. Prioritizing the patient’s needs is their primary objective. Allo Health’s experts will guide you through each stage of the process that has been developed with science-based solutions in mind. They provide you with unlimited consultations until you see results and are satisfied with them. Allo Health raised 4.4 million dollars in its seed round of raising funds on January 13, 2022, with Deepinder Goyal as one of the top angel investors.
Animall
Startup Name
Animall
Industry
Livestock Trading
Founded
2019
Animall – Deepinder Goyal Funded Startup
Deepinder Goyal invested in Animall, a livestock trading company started by Kirti Jangra, Anurag Bisoi, Neetu Yadav, and Libin V Babu. Animall was first created in June 2019 as part of an internal hackathon at Pratilipi (a storytelling platform), where it won both the jury and audience awards. It is a top-tier Venture Capital-backed firm developing an internet platform to benefit millions of dairy producers. Animall has made it easier for dairy farmers to begin their farms by providing quick and simple access to high-quality cattle through an “easy-to-use” mobile application.
WEH Ventures, Omnivore, Beenext, Rocketship, and individual investors such as Deepinder Goyal, Sahil Barua, Vidit Attrey, Sanjeev Kumar, and Mohit Kumar also participated in the fundraising, which spanned across five rounds and valued at 24.7 million dollars.
Bira91
Startup Name
Bira91
Industry
Beverage
Founded
2015
Bira91 – Deepinder Goyal Funded Startup
Bira91 paved the way for the emergence of Craft Beer into the Indian beverage scene. Founded by Ankur Jain in 2015, Bira 91 is supported by Sequoia Capital India and is run by a vibrant staff of over six hundred enthusiastic beer connoisseurs. With five breweries dotted over India, it has produced an extensive selection of multiple-award-winning beers. Over the course of 18 rounds, Bira 91 has raised a total of 340 million dollars in investment from two-hundred-six investors, including Sofina, Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Rohit Bansal, Deepinder Goyal, and Anicut Capital.
Bluestone
Startup Name
Bluestone
Industry
Jewellery
Founded
2011
Bluestone – Deepinder Goyal Funded Startup
BlueStone, founded in 2011, is India’s largest destination for high-quality fine jewelry, offering over 800 breathtakingly stunning styles for customers to choose from. It was founded by Gaurav Kushwaha, Sudeep Nagar, and Vidya Nataraj. Bluestone guarantees complete transparency for all their products and has earned a trustworthy certification. Bluestone has been funded by fourteen investors and has raised $100.1 million. Notable invested individuals included Nikhil Kamath, Sunil Kant Munjal, Amit Jain, Deepinder Goyal, and others.
ChefKart
Startup Name
ChefKart
Industry
At-home cooking service platform
Founded
2020
ChefKart – Deepinder Goyal Funded Startup
ChefKart is a platform that allows users to hire verified and trained chefs for their everyday requirements. With a ChefKart subscription, you can access skilled and verified home chefs in your area, hire and replace house chefs easily, and enjoy hygienic, delicious, and healthy meals prepared in your kitchen. Their objective is to ensure every one of the homes in the country has access to high-quality food. With more than four thousand five hundred skilled chefs, they have catered to over 10,000 homes. Chefkart offers a range of services for different use cases, including on-demand and subscription options.
Chefkart raised $2 million in funding from noteworthy investors, including Pravega Ventures, Blume Ventures, Deepinder Goyal, Titan Capital, Kunal Shah, and others.
Gabit
Startup Name
Gabit
Industry
Health & Wellness
Founded
2023
ChefKart – Deepinder Goyal Funded Startup
Gabit is a healthcare firm launched by Gaurav Gupta, a former executive and co-founder of Zomato, that provides solutions for all health and wellbeing needs. It offers clear but comprehensive, goal-oriented answers to important health-related issues like acne, healthy aging, weight control, etc. Gabit secured 9.5 million dollars in seed funding from angel investors such as Kunal Shah, Amit Agarwal, and Deepinder Goyal.
Geniemode
Startup Name
Geniemode
Industry
Supply Chain Platform
Founded
2021
Geniemode – Deepinder Goyal Funded Startup
Geniemode is a one-stop sourcing and supply chain solution provider with an innovative technology-based platform for retailers and suppliers of fashion and home living products. Amit Sharma and Tanuj Gangwani launched the company in March 2021. Through the use of Geniemode’s platform, anyone can create and find catalogs, connect with suitable suppliers, and guarantee a seamless, start-to-finish procedure. Across three rounds of funding, Geniemode raised a total of 36.8 million dollars.
Mainstreet
Startup Name
Mainstreet
Industry
Marketplace
Founded
2019
Mainstreet – Deepinder Goyal Funded Startup
Vedant Lamba launched Mainstreet Marketplace out of a YouTube channel in 2017. Then, he leveraged it to develop into one of India’s biggest marketplaces for streetwear clothing and shoe dealers. It offers brands like Yeezy, Jordan, Adidas, Supreme and more. The organization grew its business by focusing on two key areas: awareness and accessibility. Mainstreet acquired funding from renowned investors, such as Karandeep Anand, Deepinder Goyal, and Anuppam Mittal, as well as entrepreneurs and celebrity names, like Zakir Khan and Kanan Gill.
Multiplier
Startup Name
Multiplier
Industry
Employment Platform
Founded
2020
Multiplier – Deepinder Goyal Funded Startup
Multiplier is a premier global employment platform that handles international teams’ employment, payroll, and compliance. Sagar Khatri, Amritpal Singh, and Vamsi Krishna established the company in 2020. Since then, it has rapidly established itself as the top global job marketplace, making it simple for businesses to hire teams internationally. With a presence in 150 countries, Multiplier enables its clients to tap into global talent pools, allowing them to focus on growing their businesses. Multiplier has raised 77.2 million dollars in funding from investors such as Surge, Picus Capital, Deepinder Goyal, Amrish Rau, and others.
Park+
Startup Name
Park+
Industry
Parking Industry
Founded
2019
Park+ – Deepinder Goyal Funded Startup
Amit, well-versed in the challenges faced by country commuters, came up with the concept for Park+ after finding it difficult to obtain a parking space in time to get to work. It not only helps drivers find parking, but it also lets you rent out any empty spots you may have. Park+ offers services for both two-wheelers and four-wheelers. It was established in 2019 by Amit Lakhotia and Hitesh Gupta. Over the course of six investment rounds, Park+ has raised a total of 54.3 million dollars. The investor portfolio includes Kunal Khattar, Rohit Bansal, Deep Kalra, Deepinder Goyal, and Venture Catalysts.
Pristyn Care
Startup Name
Pristyn Care
Industry
Healthcare
Founded
2018
Pristyn Care – Deepinder Goyal Funded Startup
Pristyn Care, founded in 2018 by Harsimarbir Singh, Dr. Vaibhav Kapoor, and Dr. Garima Sawhney, is a cutting-edge healthcare company streamlining a patient’s complete surgery journey. It ensures that the patient’s experience, from finding the correct doctor to the follow-up appointment following surgery, is stress-free and caring. Pristyn Care uses a unique full-stack care delivery strategy to provide high-quality surgical care to patients at a reasonable cost. Over the course of five funding rounds, Pristyn Care has raised a total of 177 million dollars from Deepinder Goyal, Winter Capital, Hummingbird Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Kunal Shah, and many other investors.
Raise
Startup Name
Raise
Industry
Financial Services
Founded
2021
Raise – Deepinder Goyal Funded Startup
Raise Financial Services is a Mumbai-based fintech business founded in 2021 by Pravin Jadhav Bhimrao. Raise’s initial offering, Dhan, an investment platform for long-term and super traders, launched in November 2021. In September, it made the service’s early access available. Sujeet Kumar, Deepinder Goyal, Amod Malviya, Girish Mathrubootham, Jitendra Gupta, and others invested 22 million dollars in the firm during a funding round.
Shiprocket
Startup Name
Shiprocket
Industry
Logistics
Founded
2017
Shiprocket – Deepinder Goyal Funded Startup
Shiprocket is a technologically advanced logistics platform offering micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises cost-effective options that allow them to sell online and anywhere. They offer packaging, warehousing, and other associated services. Saahil Goel and co-founders Gautam Kapoor, Vishesh Khurana, and Akshay Ghulati set up Shiprocket in 2017. Throughout 12 fundraising rounds, investors, including McKinsey & Company, Lightrock, BEENEXT, Deepinder Goyal, 500 startups, and many more, have invested 399.1 million dollars in Shiprocket.
Terra.do
Startup Name
Terra.do
Industry
Climate Education
Founded
2020
Terra.do – Deepinder Goyal Funded Startup
In 2020, Anshuman Bapna, Mayank Jain, and Dr. Kamal Kapadia built Terra.do, a global career platform for climate change. The institution provides educational programs on climate change and ways to contribute to the solution. Terra.do also helps students find careers in the climate sector. Terra.do has raised a total of 8.4 million dollars for its seed round. Among the many investors in the company are Deepinder Goyal, Stanford Angels and Entrepreneurs, BEENEXT, Rainmatter Capital, Avaana Capital, and a lot more.
The Signal
Startup Name
The Signal
Industry
Business Newsletter
Founded
2020
The Signal – Deepinder Goyal Funded Startup
The Signal is India’s top technology and business newsletter for emerging leaders, offering insightful analysis of economic trends, businesses, and technological breakthroughs. Podcasts about the various fields are also available on the platform. It was founded in 2020 by Dinesh Narayanan and Rajneil Kamath. The Signal has raised 436 thousand dollars from several investors, including LetsVenture, Rainmatter, Capital A, and Deepinder Goyal.
Threado
Startup Name
Threado
Industry
Artificial Intelligence
Founded
2020
Threado – Deepinder Goyal Funded Startup
Pramod Rao and Abhishek Nalin founded Threado in 2020. It is an AI-powered co-pilot designed to help you offer the most excellent support possible to your community and customers across all of your digital platforms. Threado allows users to evaluate engagement, gain deep insights, and automate operational tasks all from one dashboard. Its features let users identify who’s actively participating and who needs to be pushed, and they can employ member activity triggers to put communication processes on autopilot. Threado has secured a total of 3.27 million dollars in two rounds from investors, including Deepinder Goyal, Aneesh Reddy, Tonmoy Shingal, Vertex Ventures, and others.
Ultrahuman
Startup Name
Ultrahuman
Industry
Health & Fitness
Founded
2019
Ultrahuman – Deepinder Goyal Funded Startup
Ultrahuman is a global health and fitness platform that helps users attain their full physical and mental potential. Mohit Kumar and Vatsal Singhal launched it in 2019. Its products include Blood Vision, a preventive blood testing platform with the ground-breaking UltraTrace technology, Ultrahuman M1, a continuous glucose monitoring platform, and the Ultrahuman Ring AIR, the world’s lightest wearable sleep tracking system. Over the course of three investment rounds, Ultrahuman has raised a total of 25.1 million dollars. There are 27 investors in the company, including Deepinder Goyal, Ishan Bansal Dean, Harsh Jain, and Nexus Venture Partners.
Unacademy
Startup Name
Unacademy
Industry
Education
Founded
2015
Unacademy – Deepinder Goyal Funded Startup
Unacademy is an e-learning platform designed to build an online knowledge resource for multilingual education. Gaurav Munjal, Roman Saini, and Hemesh Singh launched the edtech platform in Bengaluru in 2015. It was first launched in 2010 as a YouTube channel before developing into a feature-rich platform for educational technologies. Unacademy has raised a total of 838.5 million dollars from forty-three investors, including Mirae Asset Venture Investment, General Atlantic, Deepinder Goyal, Sandeep Tandon, Sachin Tendulkar, and Ritesh Agarwal.
Conclusion
Deepinder Goyal’s contribution to the startup ecosystem is undeniable. His strategic investments have fostered innovation and growth in several types of businesses across India. His approach to backing businesses extends beyond financial support, where Goyal actively mentors and guides the founders, bringing unique insights and expertise to the table. Moreover, the investing portfolio displays an in-depth understanding of emerging trends and a willingness to take risks on breakthrough concepts. Deepinder Goyal’s impact will undoubtedly have a long-lasting effect on the startup landscape as these companies grow and bring revolutions in their respective industries.
FAQs
Who is Deepinder Goyal?
Deepinder Goyal is the co-founder and CEO of Zomato.
What are the companies Deepinder Goyal has invested in?
Some of the notable companies that Deepinder Goyal has invested in are:
Shiprocket
Unacademy
Bluestone
Raise
Bira91
What is the net worth of Deepinder Goyal?
The current net worth of Deepinder Goyal is Rs. 2,030 Crore.
Our India stands as the second-largest population in the world with a rapidly thriving economy over the past few decades. Before India’s Independence, agriculture played a vital role in developing the economy.
Following the 21st century, we have witnessed numerous entrepreneurs arising in every corner of India with a motive to bring a prosperous future for Indians.
Conscientiously, India became the third-largest in terms of real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) after the United States of America and China. Because of this fact, our entrepreneurs are the sole reason for the success of the Indian Economy, which stated that over 58.5 million entrepreneurs are there in India, of which nearly 13% are women.
Without any background or experience, some self-made business people took the determination to create a miracle in burgeoning the economy and ultimately becoming the richest entrepreneur at a very young age.
Net Worth – $1.5 Billion Founded – Zerodha Education – Graduation in engineering
Nithin Kamath – Youngest Billionaire in India
With an aim of breaking all barriers which are faced by investors and traders in India regarding cost, technology and support. Nithin Kamath, a Chartered Accountant (CA) took part in building a hassle-free online discount brokerage firm- Zerodha. He is the Founder as well as the CEO of Zerodha. He is mostly known for tweeting educational and informative content on social media.
Ultimately, the company became India’s first discount brokerage firm, after it was founded in the year 2010. As of 2021, Zerodha is said to have over 5 million active clients. The net worth of Nithin Kamath is INR 14500 Crores.
Nikhil Kamath
Net Worth – $1.5 Billion Founded – Zerodha Education – School Dropout
Nikhil Kamath – Youngest Billionaire in India
Nikhil Kamath is the Co-founder of India’s biggest trading platform, Zerodha. Although he dropped out of his school at a young age, he hustled and secures a job in a call centre, when he was just 17. Nikhil Kamath, after getting into trading along with his brother founded Zerodha. When he got into stock markets, he decided to start trading.
Zerodha solves all the problems and barriers faced by traders and investors. The current net worth of Nikhil Kamath is INR 11100. Zerodha was founded by Nikhil Kamath and his brother in the year 2010. He is one of the richest self-made billionaires in India at the age of 40.
Divyank Turakhia
Net Worth – $1.76 Billion Founded – Media.net Education – Graduated from Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics
Divyank Turakhia – self made Billionaires in India
Divyank Turakhia being tech-savvy, began his career in coding at the age of 8 and mastered every aspect of computer programming. He was born on 29th January 1982 and did his schooling at Arya Vidya Mandir in Bandra and holds a degree in the field of Commerce and Economics from Narsee Monjee College in Mumbai. He founded media.net and later sold it to Chinese consortium for $900 million.
According to IIFA Wealth, He is the second richest self-made entrepreneur under 40, and his net worth is estimated to be 12,500 crores.
Ankit Bhati
Net Worth – $615 Million Founded – Ola Education – IIT Bombay
Ankit Bhati – Youngest billionaire in India
Ankit Bhati is the Co-founder and was the former CTO of one of India’s most popular and used ridesharing Ola Cabs. Ola Cabs was founded in the year 2010. . Recently, Ankit Bhati has launched a new SaaS startup named Amnic. The net worth of Ankit Bhati is INR 1600 Crores. With the increasing demand for ridesharing systems, Ola Cabs are one of the two ridesharing companies that are dominating the Indian market.
Bhavish Agarwal
Net Worth – $990 Million Founded – Ola Education – IIT Bombay
Bhavish Agarwal – Youngest billionaire in India
In recent times, Ola resulted in a turning point in the development of the Indian economy, where people encountered comfortable rental transport at an affordable rate. Bhavish Aggarwal commenced their idea of innovating technology-based cab services in India and started Ola and became one of the richest entrepreneurs with a net worth of close to INR 7500 Crores.
Net Worth – $1.3 Billion Founded – Paytm Education – Bachelor of Engineering from Delhi College of Engineering
Vijay Shekhar Sharma – Youngest billionaire in India
Vijay Shekhar Sharma is one of those Indian billionaire businessmen who achieved many things at such a young age. He is none other than the founder and chief executive officer of the financial technology firm, Paytm. He sold the website that he created while in college, named indiasite.net for $1 million.
He then started One97 Communications where they provided people with exam results, cricket scores, ringtones and jokes. In 2010 it became the parent organization of Paytm. In 2017, Forbes ranked him as India’s youngest billionaire and in the same year, he was headlined in Time Magazine’s World’s 100 Most Influential People 2017 List.
Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffet subsidized $300 million in the business in 2018. And again in 2020, Forbes featured him as the 62nd richest person in India and his net worth is $2.3 billion.
Binny Bansal
Net Worth – $1.3 Billion Founded – Flipkart Education – Graduate from IIT Delhi
Binny Bansal – Self-made Billionaires in India
Binny Bansal is the founder of the e-commerce platform named Flipkart. He co-founded Flipkart in 2007 and now he has become one of the biggest names in the Indian e-commerce industry. At first, Binny Bansal worked at Sarnoff Corporation, Binny Bansal completed his degree in computer engineering from IIT Delhi. He was the former CEO of Flipkart.
Flipkart was launched in 2007, at first it was more like a small book store, then it become an e-commerce platform. In 2018, Walmart acquired Flipkart. Today the valuation of Flipkart is around $37.8 billion.
Sachin Bansal
Net Worth – $1.3 Billion Founded – Flipkart Education – Graduate from IIT Delhi
Sachin Bansal – Self-made Billionaires in India
Sachin Bansal is an Indian entrepreneur who co-founded one of the most popular Indian e-commerce platforms Flipkart. Flipkart is an e-commerce company that is famous for selling consumer electronics, fashion, groceries and lifestyle-related products. Flipkart was acquired by Walmart in 2018. Sachin Bansal got his degree in Computer Engineering after attending IIT Delhi and founded Flipkart along with Binny Bansal. The net worth of Sachin Bansal is INR 8848 Cores.
Ritesh Agarwal
Net Worth – $1.1 Billion Founded – Oyo Rooms Education – College Dropout
Ritesh Agarwal – Youngest Billionaire in India
This 27-year-old Ritesh Agarwal is one the youngest billionaire in 2021 in India. He is the Founder and CEO of OYO Rooms. He commenced OYO Rooms as a small lodging portal under budget.
In 2012, it was added to the accelerator program by Venture Nursery. In 2013, it won $100,000 in the Thiel Fellowship program and in 2013, he launched OYO Rooms. The company was a success and the stakes tripled when Agarwal purchased $2 billion worth shares in the company.
He is named in the Forbes 30 under 30 list for Asia and also is nominated for the Business World Young Entrepreneur Award. As per reports, Ritesh Agarwal’s net worth is around $1.1 billion.
Net Worth – $650 Million Founded – Zomato Education – Graduate from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
Deepinder Goyal – Self made Billionaire in India
Deepinder Goyal is the founder of Zomato, which delivers food from restaurants to every corner of the city. Foodiebay was the name of the firm when they initially started, that is in 2008 and later in 2010, they renamed the company Zomato when the company gained popularity among the people.
It also acquired Cibando, Gastronauci, Poland’s restaurant search assistance in 2014, and Seattle founded Urbanspoon, it turned out to be their massive gain. As per the report, Deepinder Goyal’s current net worth is around Rs 2,200 crore.
Conclusion
Our entrepreneurs are the sole reason for the success of the Indian Economy. Many fresh talents are rising from the corners of the country and are giving a hand in creating a prosperous. As of 2021, there are many such successful entrepreneurs, here we have just mentioned a few.
FAQs
Who is the youngest self-made billionaire in India?
Nikhil Kamath, the co-founder of Zerodha is India’s youngest billionaire at the age of 34.
Who is the youngest self made billionaire entrepreneur in the world?
Austin Russell founder of Luminar Technologies is the world’s youngest self-made billionaire.
Who is India’s youngest millionaire entrepreneur?
Sunil Butolia is India’s youngest millionaire at the age of 18.
Who are self made entrepreneurs?
Self made entrepreneurs are the people who have started with a lack of money, education, or social status and have become both rich and successful through their own efforts.
Who is the world’s youngest billionaire?
The world’s youngest billionaire is German heir Kevin David Lehmann, who is just 19.
How many Indian billionaires are there now?
Currently, there are 215+ Indian billionaires, with 58 new additions, as of March 2022.
Gaurav Gupta was the Global Head of the Advertising sales of Zomato and was later promoted to the COO position of the company. After 4 years of exceptional contribution towards his work and leading the launch of a wide range of the services of the business, Gaurav Gupta was again elevated to the rank of the Co-founder of Zomato on March 2, 2019. However, after a brief stint of a little more than 2 years as the Co-founder and COO of Zomato, Gaurav Gupta resigned from the company on September 14, 2021.
Quite intriguing isn’t it?
We know you want to know more about Gaurav Gupta, which is why StartupTalky covers the story of Zomato COO and Co-founder, Gaurav Gupta from his entry into the organization to his resignation.
Gaurav Gupta Biography
Name
Gaurav Gupta
Nickname
GG
Nationality
Indian
Education
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi
Profession
Sales and Advertising Head, Business Head
Position
Former COO and Co-founder of Zomato
Co-founder
Zomato
Gaurav Gupta Before He Joined Zomato
Little is known about Gaurav Gupta’s life before he joined Zomato, but as per his Linkedin profile and a TOI article, Gaurav worked as a consultant at A.T. Kearney for a decade.
Gaurav joined the organization in 2015 and was the Head of the Supply of Zomato. He was the key person, who led the launch of numerous services that the online food ordering platform currently draws revenue from across a bunch of international markets. Furthermore, Gaurav also launched the table reservation business and was also responsible for scaling it up across India, UAE, and Australia.
Gaurav Gupta not only led the advertising sales of the company globally but also played a significant role in launching Zomato Gold. Gupta played an instrumental role in growing the subscription service of Zomato to one of the fastest-growing of paid membership programs. Furthermore, he had also worked with Zomato’s payments business, registered under Zomato Pay.
Gaurav was then promoted as the COO of the company and thereby, acted as the head of the operations team.
Gaurav Gupta eventually moved from the COO role to lead Zomato’s nutrition business. On this Gaurav mentioned via an email saying, “I was anyway not doing this role, and it will be great for all of us if we find someone better than me to do this role,” wrote Gupta.
Gaurav Gupta Promoted as the COO of Zomato
In January 2018, at a time when Zomato was seeing a key shuffle in top management roles, he was elevated from his earlier role of the global head for advertising sales to the COO. As the COO, he was given charge of critical operations including content and new initiatives such as their cloud kitchen module, Zomato Infrastructure Services along with sourcing and reviews on the platform.
Gaurav Gupta as the Co-founder of the Company
In a move that Zomato’s Co-Founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal stated as ‘empowerment for the right person’, the company’s 38-year-old Chief Operating Officer (COO), Gaurav Gupta was given the title of co-founder. The announcement, which comes as a surprise to many, was made by the company’s CEO Goyal in an internal mail on the 1st of March, 2019. Zomato confirmed the development but declined to share further details.
Deepinder Goyal stated in the mail saying,
This is not a ‘reward’- this is empowerment, for the right person, to seamlessly be able to level-up to a role which he has shown the potential for.” He further mentioned that along with the new title of co-founder, Gupta’s role and title as the COO would still be maintained.
The company then decided to elevate Gaurav Gupta’s position to that of the Co-founder of the company in March 2019.
As part of the employee empowerment policy of Zomato, the company embraced Gaurav Gupta as one of its co-founders.
“We are going to call GG ‘co-founder and COO’, in addition to his COO role,” said the Co-founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal via an email to its employees.
His services were looked up to by everyone in Zomato and he was even singularly praised by CEO Goyal on a couple of occasions due to the success that Zomato is enjoying through numerous add-ons to its primary food delivery business. These include Zomato Gold, the subscription service of Zomato; Hyperpure (through which Zomato supplies fruits, vegetables, and meat to restaurants); the events unit of the company, Zomaland, and more.
Why is being a Co-founder prestigious and rare in the Startup Ecosystem?
It is one of the rare moments in the startup ecosystem when a company rewards its experienced and executive by conferring them the title of a founding partner. However, it happened with Zomato and Gaurav Gupta.
The ride aggregating giant, OLA is another Indian startup company that encourages its employees in a similar fashion. Pranay Jivrajka, an early employee of Ola had also been given the title of a founding partner in 2017, where a similar thing happened. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ola Foods and a Co-founder of Ola has already taken an exit from the firm in the wake of 2021.
The Exit of Gaurav Gupta
Gaurav Gupta finds his way to exit on September 14, 2021, after two years since his promotion to the position of a Co-founder. The resignation of Gaurav Gupta comes a little more than a year after Pankaj Chaddah had quit the company in March 2020. Pankaj Chaddah co-founded Zomato with Deepinder Goyal in 2008 and had been extensively known as the face of the brand for over a decade.
Zomato has already drawn a conclusion to some of its business lines and subsidiaries, including its grocery delivery service, nutrition and nutraceuticals, along with some of its international subsidiaries.
Gaurav Gupta had sent a heartfelt email on his parting to every one of Zomato where he addressed Zomato Co-founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal via a special mention. Deepinder also replied to Gaurav promptly in the same email bidding his Co-founder a fitting farewell.
Furthermore, Deepinder also took to Twitter to announce the exit of his co-founder and thanked him for the amazing journey of six long years that they spent together. Here goes his Tweet:
Thank you @grvgpta – the last 6 years have been amazing and we have come very far. There's so much of our journey still ahead of us, and I am thankful that we have a great team and leadership to carry us forward.https://t.co/AJAmC5ie6R
On his resignation, Gaurav Gupta has said that this will be a new turn in his life, and he will be starting a new chapter after he leaves Zomato.
Zomato and the Resignation of its COOs
Gaurav Gupta is not the only COO of Zomato who resigned from the company, nor is he the first of its top-level resignations. Zomato seems to have seen a couple of other resignations too of people working in similar designations.
Pankaj Chaddah was another Zomato personality who donned several hats, among which it is crucial to mention that he was also strikingly the COO of the firm. Deepak Gulati, who had joined Zomato as the President and the Chief Operating Officer of the company had also resigned in September 2017, within six months.
Conclusion
Resignations and struggles are part of every organization and Zomato is not an exception but the ground it gives to its employees to grow as an individual and as a team player is laudable indeed. Zomato is backed by investors like Chinese payment giants Ant Financial (payment affiliate of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba), venture capital firm Sequoia and Naukri-owner Info Edge with a valuation of over $2 billion. However, with the competition from companies like Swiggy and a never-ending demand for better service, only time will tell how this move will affect in helping Zomato stay ahead of its competitors.
Gaurav Gupta is the co-founder of Zomato who was elevated to the role of Co-founder from COO and eventually resigned from the organization on September 14, 2021.
When he joined Zomato?
Gaurav Gupta joined Zomato in 2015 and was working as a global head for advertising sales for Zomato.
What’s his current role in Zomato?
Gaurav Gupta is currently leading Zomato’s nutrition business.
Who is the founder of Zomato?
Pankaj Chaddah and Deepinder Goyal are the founders of Zomato. Zomato was founded in July 2008.
Who are the co-founders of Zomato at present?
Zomato has four cofounders— Deepinder Goyal, Gunjan Patidar, Gaurav Gupta, Akriti Chopra, and Mohit Gupta.
We are past the worst recession since the Indian independence in 1947, which was due to the COVID-19 onslaught. Though the dreadful pandemic hasn’t taken its exit yet from the country, the Indian market has started to boom with the listing of the shares from a bunch of companies, which certainly looks promising enough!
Zomato, India’s food delivery giant, has already launched its IPO on July 23, 2021, and that too with flying colors. Though the company exhibited a mammoth size of IPO at Rs 9,375 crores, the overall subscription of 38x was quite healthy. At the end of day 1, Zomato witnessed a 66% premium at Rs 125.85.
Zomato, with its successful IPO listing, has certainly been the talk of the town but one another company has parallelly been mentioned if not more. This is Uber, which seems to have largely benefitted with this listing of Zomato, and what is stranger is the fact that it hasn’t spent a single penny in the food aggregator business!
As soon as the Zomato listing closed for the day on July 23, 2021, people began talking about the sudden surge of the market value of Uber stakes. Yes, the market value of the stakes Uber has in Zomato, at the end of the day, was announced at Rs 9,000 crores ($1.2 billion). This baffled many, and even more so, when they heard that Uber didn’t spend a penny for such a fortune it made out of the Zomato IPO.
How did Uber become the gainer in Zomato IPO?
The recent gain of Uber may sound like the company has not spent anything to gain a considerable large sum and in reality, it is so. However, we need to recall that Uber has had its 9.19% shares in Zomato due to the latter’s acquisition of Uber Eats, which Zomato acquired back in 2020 at $206 million.
Along with making over a billion dollars in Zomato’s IPO, Uber also resigned from Uber Eats last year, which was on the verge of being a liability. Therefore, it was truly a win-win decision for Uber!
Looking Back at the Uber Eats Deal of Zomato
Launched in August 2014, Uber Eats started as a food delivery platform, which displayed menus from all the restaurants that were partnered with the app and helped the users order their favorite dishes, much like what we do in Zomato and Swiggy.
However, soon after the launch, Uber Eats started to pick up huge losses. The losses for the company started to pile up even more after the Covid-induced lockdown was announced. Furthermore, the losses of Uber Eats were tied to the overall losses that the cab aggregator was seeing, especially when more than half the world was observing lockdown.
During this time, the subsidiary of Uber had to resort to stringent measures like pay cuts and laying off employees. Uber Eats trimmed down its employee strength by 30% in hope that it would help the company get some gear, but when it failed, Uber thought of selling off its food delivery subsidiary.
It was on January 21, 2020, that the Indian division of Uber Eats was finally sold to none other than the food delivery giant, Zomato, in return for 9.99% stakes in Zomato, which was valued at around $180 million back then.
Who knew that this deal would be so profitable the next year itself?
According to Uber, the “fair value of the consideration” that it received for the Indian business of Uber Eats was $206 million, which included $35 million of “reimbursement of goods and services tax receivable from Zomato.”
Along with Zomato and Uber, the IPO was also a huge benefit for Info Edge, whose stocks saw a healthy rise in price and are currently worth Rs 15,000 crores. Deepinder Goyal, Zomato cofounder’s holdings, which were valued at 2,800 crores also witnessed a rise to Rs 5,500 crores.
Overall, it can be said that Zomato made a robust debut on the stock exchanges on Friday, July 23. The shares of the company started at ₹116 on the national stock exchange (NSE) and represented more than a 51% premium over the issue price of ₹76. Only 16 minutes past its listing, at 10.16 a.m., the market cap of Zomato breached ₹1 lakh crore. An amazing feat indeed!
Stocks of Zomato
Conclusion
Launched in 2008, Zomato was one of the startups that have truly emerged strong, standing as the biggest food delivery services in India, ahead of its arch-rivals, Swiggy, have amassed the strength of the years and is pacing towards a brighter future.
On such a successful first-day run of Zomato, the co-founder and CEO, Deepinder stated, “We are going to relentlessly focus on 10 years out and beyond, and are not going to alter our course for short-term profits at the cost of the long-term success of the company.”
FAQ
Is Uber Eats owned by Zomato?
Yes, Uber sold its India business of Uber Eats to Zomato for a 9.99% stake.
When did Zomato acquire Uber?
Zomato acquired Uber Eats on 21st January, 2020.
Why did Uber Eats left India?
Uber Eats decided to quit its operation in India, to cut its global losses as it was fallen behind to keep up with the competition.
Nitin Konde
