Flush with funds, quick commerce unicorn Zepto is looking to bolster its leadership ahead of its upcoming initial public offering (IPO) by hiring several senior-level employees across various categories, said co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Aadit Palicha. The company is planning to go on a hiring spree to strengthen its team as it prepares for its public listing.
Leadership Expansion at Zepto
“Today, most of my day is conducting back-to-back candidate interviews. Mostly, vice presidents (VPs) that we are trying to hire in the business verticals that we have, like home and personal care, or meat and seafood,” said Palicha, while speaking at the seventh JIIF Foundation Day event in New Delhi on July 6. According to the 21-year-old founder, the biggest challenge for Zepto has been “bringing together an exceptional team.”
“It is really hard to do that across every vertical. Not only identifying and getting the right people to join but also getting them to go all in on something. For people that are already very accomplished, telling them to go all in on something is quite hard to do. Most of my time is spent on making sure the team is exceptional and well-equipped,” he said.
In January this year, Nikhil Mittal, a former senior vice president (SVP) at Zepto, was promoted to chief technology officer (CTO).
This comes hot on the heels of Zepto’s massive $665 million series F funding round at a $3.6 billion valuation last month, as the company is gearing up to go public in the next 12-15 months, Business Standard had reported earlier.
Hiring Spree and Expansion Plans
Ahead of its public listing, Zepto is planning to hire between 400-500 employees, focusing on engineering, product, category, growth, and marketing roles. “We currently have a team of 1,600 people,” Palicha said at the time of the fundraise. Zepto is currently operating around 350 dark stores across the top ten cities in India, and with its recent influx of funds, it plans to expand into another ten cities and increase its store count to 700 by March 2025.
Top-Level Exits at Zepto
However, Palicha’s comments also come at a time when the company has witnessed a string of top-level exits over the past months. In June, the firm’s chief marketing officer Amritansu Nanda, chief business officer and chief growth officer Viral Jhaveri, and VP of Growth and Retention Manik Oberoi left the company. Additionally, Ashish Shah, Zepto’s former SVP of Finance who had joined in June 2021, reportedly quit in December 2023 and has now joined DealShare as its chief financial officer (CFO).
Despite these challenges, Zepto remains focused on its growth and leadership enhancement as it prepares for its IPO and continued expansion in the Indian market.
Zepto Flush with Funds, Bolsters Leadership Ahead of IPO https://t.co/9itKUHe1OY via @snapnews_24 #zepto pic.twitter.com/S3ovbDRbax
— Snap News (@snapnews_24) July 7, 2024
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