Let’s be honest, a good and soulful meal can immediately uplift our mood, be it a wholesome morning breakfast, a cheat meal, snacks for a party, or a lavish dinner at home. There are days when we just want to crash on the couch and binge-watch our favourite show and not cook and these are the days when we rely on food delivery services. And one such app that delivers happiness in the form of food is Swiggy. Started in 2014 by three masterminds, Sriharsha Majety, Nandan Reddy, Rahul Jaimini, Swiggy now operates in 500+ cities and has expanded to delivering groceries, and liquor. Sriharsha Majety, one of the original co-founders and the current CEO, is spearheading the company, helping it expand and reach greater heights.
Early Life
Sriharsha Majety completed his Bachelor’s in Engineering from BITS Pilani in 2008 and went on to pursue a Master’s in Physics as well. He later enrolled himself in the CFA Programme but realised that was not where his heart is. He then received a Post-Graduate Diploma from IIM, Calcutta where he was also a recruitment coordinator.
Career
Majety began his professional career as an Associate at Nomura International and was based in London, after working for one year he left his job to follow his passion for travelling. “I travelled 3500 kms from Portugal to Greece by bicycle over 3 months and continued overland from Turkey to Kazakhstan through public transport and hitchhiking. Using the time from the career switch to gain some perspective and learn more about the world we live in has been my most rewarding decision till date,” his LinkedIn profile reads.
In 2013, he co-founded Bundl, which was a powerful solution that helped e-commerce merchants by aggregating multiple courier partners across India and providing a one-stop solution to them. Building Swiggy, he analyzed the market and realised the need for a delivery system that was unique and decided to rebrand Bundl into an on-demand food delivery system. Swiggy quickly established itself as the largest online food ordering platform in the country.
How Sriharsha and team built Swiggy
Swiggy launched its cloud kitchen chain “The Bowl Company” in January 2017. During the COVID-19 pandemic when most companies were facing a downfall, Swiggy expanded its portfolio as they launched Swiggy Genie, the instant pickup/dropoff service allowing customers to send and receive parcel deliveries, in April 2020. This was not the end for as they then started a grocery delivery system, Swiggy Instamart and which soon emerged as a reliable option for customers. It was also delivering alcohol in parts of Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha.
The CEO’s mission for his brand is to, “elevate the quality of life for urban consumers by delivering unparalleled convenience’. I’m most proud of our culture that places a premium on tinkering and inventing things from the future.”
Swiggy was valued at $45.76 million by the US fund as of March 31, 2023, according to filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The total cost of the investment throughout that time period was $76.78 million. Swiggy’s investment by Baron Capital was part of a $700 million fundraising deal in January 2022. Through its Baron Emerging Markets Fund, it owns around 0.75% of the company.
According to Live Mint, the CEO has a net worth of Rs 1400 crore.
