Swiggy Ropes In Titan’s Suparna Mitra As Independent Director

IPO-bound foodtech major Swiggy has appointed Suparna Mitra as an independent director to its board.

Mitra is the chief executive officer of Titan Company Ltd’s watches and wearables division, besides serving on IIM Kozhikode’s board of governors.

With this, Mitra now joins three other independent directors on Swiggy’s board.

Swiggy’s list of independent directors includes Anand Kripalu, who serves as managing director and global chief executive at EPL Limited. 

Besides, Shailesh Haribhakti, the chairman of Shailesh Haribhakti & Associates and Sahil Barua, managing director and chief executive at Delhivery are the other two independent directors.

Sriharsha Majety, group chief executive of Swiggy, said, “With her remarkable career and extensive experience in lifestyle and retail industries, along with her refreshing perspectives as a leader, we are confident that Mitra will bring valuable insights and expertise to our board as our business enters its next era of growth.”

“Having seen Swiggy revolutionise on-demand convenience through innovation and customer-centricity, I’m excited by this opportunity. I look forward to collaborating with the board members and management team of Swiggy; aimed at value-creation and values-based governance,” said Mitra.

Mitra’s appointment comes days after Mallika Srinivasan stepped down as Swiggy’s independent director in February this year.

This also comes close on the heels of Swiggy gearing up to list itself on the stock exchanges with an issue size of $1 Bn (INR 8,300 Cr) this year.

In February 2023, Swiggy appointed three directors to its board, namely, Srinivasan, Haribhakti and Barua. 

Adding to this, Swiggy appointed FMCG veteran Anand Kripalu as an independent director and the chairperson of its board of directors to strengthen its board ahead of its initial public offering (IPO) in December last year. 

However, the food major has also seen numerous high-profile exits within a short span. 

Key people including Karthik Gurumurthy (senior vice president and head of Swiggy Instamart), Dale Vaz (CTO), Anuj Rathi (SVP, central revenue and growth ), Ashish Lingamneni (VP, marketing) and Dineout cofounder Vivek Kapoor, stepped down from their respective positions. 

In January, Inc42 reported that Swiggy is likely to lay off 400 employees, or around 6% of its total workforce, as part of a corporate realignment process.

Though the impact of layoffs could be across departmental, customer support and tech teams will likely take the hardest hit, sources told Inc42.

For the year ending March 2022 (FY23), Swiggy reported a revenue surge of 40% to INR 8,264.4 Cr from INR 5,704.9 Cr in FY22 as it scaled up its quick commerce vertical during the year.