Food delivery unicorn Swiggy on Monday said it has appointed three independent directors to its board as the Softbank-backed company gears up for an initial public offering (IPO).
The three hires include tractor maker TAFE’s Mallika Srinivasan, logistics firm Delhivery’s Salil Barua and Shailesh Haribhakti of Shailesh Haribhakti & Associates.
“They have very rich and diverse experiences in building sustainable businesses at scale.Getting these new and powerful perspectives and strengthening our governance will immensely benefit us,” said Sriharsha Majety, chief executive officer at Swiggy.
With the latest appointments, Swiggy has added its first independent set of directors. The Bengaluru-based firm had reportedly started preparing for an $800 million-IPO last year, intending to go public in 2023.
“Swiggy is an enterprising and innovative company that has redefined customer convenience and impactfully altered lifestyles…as the company moves forward in pushing boundaries and redefining newer segments,” said Srinivasan.
Swiggy, last valued at $10.7 billion, is backed by investors including Prosus, Accel, Alpha Wave Global and Qatar Investment Authority, among others.
The three directors join current members that include co-founders Majety and Nandan Reddy. Other members include Prosus Edtech and Food’s CEO Larry Illg, Prosus India’s Head of Investments Ashutosh Sharma, Softbank India and EMEA’s managing partner Sumer Juneja and Accel’s Partner Anand Daniel.
The development comes weeks after Swiggy had laid off 380 employees or nearly 6% of its 6,000 workforce, joining a slew of startups who have cut headcounts in the last few months.
Majety had cited macroeconomic headwinds and a reducing growth of food delivery businesses as the reason behind the layoffs. In the financial year (FY) 2022, the company had widened its consolidated loss to Rs 3,628.9 crore, which is more than double of Rs 1,616.9 crore loss it reported in the preceding FY.
Its rival Zomato, which had listed on the bourses in 2021, has faced the brunt of public markets, as it focuses on reducing cash burn. The company’s stock has lost about 62% of its value since listing. While seeing about four high-profile exits in the last few months, the company also decided to lay off about 3% of its employees across a 3,800-member team across functions, including technology, product and marketing, in the same month.