Bengaluru-based Foodvista India Pvt. Ltd, which operates online food delivery platform FreshMenu, has appointed former Snapdeal executive Pradeep Desai as chief business and technology officer, the company said in a statement.
In his new role, Desai will be responsible for building innovative solutions that spearhead growth, while creating a best-in-class food brand, the statement said.
According to his LinkedIn account, Desai took charge of the new assignment in September.
An IIT Madras and University of Texas alumnus, Desai was previously senior vice president of technology and product at e-commerce firm Snapdeal, overseeing logistics, supply chain, consumer experience, and other core verticals. Before Snapdeal, he led the product and engineering functions at Nasdaq-listed deals and vouchers site Groupon for its goods business. He also had a 11-year long stint at US-based e-commerce behemoth Amazon, where he worked in multiple verticals such as logistics, fulfillment, supply chain, advertising and marketing.
"India has a growing aspirational population that wants to experiment in all aspects of their life, and wants to be seen at par with their global counterparts. FreshMenu offers that in the food segment by providing freshly prepared global cuisine right at the consumers' doorsteps," Desai said in the press note.
Founded in 2014 by IIM Ahmedabad alumna Daga, FreshMenu prepares meals and delivers from its own kitchen facilities. It has so far raised more than $22 million from investors including Zodius Technology Fund, Lightspeed Venture Partners and GrowthStory.
Earlier this month, VCCircle reported that FreshMenu received Rs 1.65 crore ($255,613) in a typical ad-for-equity deal from a new investor, media conglomerate Bennett, Coleman and Company Ltd (BCCL).
FreshMenu got a fix on the cloud kitchen model much before most other food-tech startups, and stuck to it. While the startup’s mini-kitchens primarily cater to online food delivery, it recently opened an outlet at Bangalore airport where customers can dine in or take out.
During 2016-17, FreshMenu more than doubled its net sales to Rs 70.9 crore from Rs 31.7 crore in the previous year. Net loss widened to Rs 42.3 crore from Rs 33.8 crore, as total expenses increased to Rs 117 crore from Rs 67 crore.
Earlier this year, FreshMenu broke into the top-five club in the online food delivery space in India, in terms of revenues.
