When Hari Menon and four of his friends launched Fabmart in 1999, India had barely begun its Internet journey. Online shopping was virtually unheard of, Internet penetration was negligible, and the idea of ordering groceries online seemed far-fetched in a country where neighbourhood kirana stores dominated retail.
Yet Menon, along with co-founders VS Sudhakar, Vipul Parekh, Abhinay Choudhary and VS Ramesh, believed that commerce would eventually move online. Their timing, however, was off by more than a decade.
Fabmart failed to gain traction and the founders were forced to pivot to a chain of physical grocery stores called Fabmall. The business was eventually sold to the Aditya Birla Group in 2007. For many entrepreneurs, that would have marked the end of the journey. Instead, Menon and his co-founders treated it as an intermission.
Decoupling from Desktop
By 2011, smartphones were becoming common, Internet connectivity had improved and consumer behaviour was beginning to change. The founders returned to the idea they had first pursued more than a decade earlier and launched BigBasket. This time, the market was ready.
Over the next decade, BigBasket emerged as India’s largest online grocery platform, helping create a category that barely existed when the company started. While rivals such as Amazon and Flipkart pursued a broad e-commerce strategy, BigBasket focused almost entirely on groceries and daily essentials. The company differentiated itself through a wide assortment of products, strong sourcing relationships and a portfolio of private labels spanning fresh produce, staples, snacks and packaged foods.
Industry executives often describe Menon as a retailer first and a technology entrepreneur second. Former BigBasket CHRO and angel investor Hari TN once called him “a people person at heart and a true blue-blooded retailer professionally”, a description that many in the startup ecosystem believe captures his leadership style. Unlike several startup founders who built businesses around technology alone, Menon focused on the complexities of inventory, supply chains, sourcing and customer trust in a category where margins were thin and operational challenges immense.
The strategy paid off. BigBasket steadily expanded across cities, attracted marquee investors and became one of the most recognised names in the country’s startup ecosystem. In 2021, Tata Digital acquired a majority stake in the company, giving the Tata Group a ready-made entry into online grocery and digital commerce. The deal also marked one of the most significant exits in the startup ecosystem and validated a business model that many had once dismissed as impractical.
Yet the final phase of Menon’s tenure illustrates how quickly digital markets can evolve. Having spent years convincing consumers to buy groceries online, BigBasket suddenly found itself confronting a new behavioural shift. Customers no longer wanted groceries delivered the next day or in scheduled slots. They wanted them in minutes.
10-Minute Collision
The emergence of Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart transformed the sector. Convenience and speed became more important than planning. The market moved from online grocery to quick commerce almost overnight.
By Menon’s own admission, BigBasket was slower than some rivals in recognising the scale of that shift. While competitors aggressively built dark-store networks and pushed 10-minute deliveries, BigBasket continued to focus on its traditional strengths. The company eventually responded by expanding its quick-commerce operations and making rapid delivery the default option, but by then competitors had established strong positions in the market.
That, perhaps, is the irony of Menon’s entrepreneurial journey. The founder who was ahead of his time in 1999 and right about online grocery long before most people believed in it found himself on the back foot during the industry’s next major transition.
Even so, BigBasket remains a significant player. The company has more than 850 dark stores, continues to expand its quick-commerce footprint and reported strong growth in FY26. Tata’s decision to appoint Amazon veteran Amit Nanda as CEO while retaining Menon and co-founder Vipul Parekh on the board suggests that the group still sees substantial potential in the business they built.
As Menon steps away from day-to-day operations, his legacy is likely to be measured by more than market-share rankings. Long before instant deliveries, dark stores and quick-commerce wars became the defining themes of retail, he had already persuaded millions of consumers that groceries could be purchased online. In doing so, he helped create a market that others would later scale.
Few founders get to say they were right before everyone else. Fewer still get a second chance to prove it. Menon did both.