Foodtech major Zomato has rehired its former executive Shalin Bhatt to head its dining out vertical
Bhatt has replaced Sankalp Kathuria as the head of dining out business
Kathuria stepped down from the position of senior vice-president (SVP) and business head of Zomato Dining in December 2024
Foodtech major Zomato
Bhatt has replaced Sankalp Kathuria as the head of the dining out business. As per Kathuria’s LinkedIn profile, he stepped down from the position of senior vice-president (SVP) and business head of Zomato Dining in December 2024.
The latest development was first reported by Economic Times.
Bhatt left Zomato in 2021 to launch his own bootstrapped SaaS and ecommerce startup after the foodtech major went public. However, the startup shut operations after two years.
It is pertinent to note that in July last year, Zomato brought back its two former senior executives, Rahul Ganjoo and Pradyot Ghate, to scale its going-out business.
Soon after that, Zomato acquired fintech major Paytm’s entertainment ticketing business in August 2024 for INR 2,048 Cr.
Following this, Zomato merged the dining-out segment with the ticketing business, and launched a new app ‘Districit’ in November last year for the combined offerings. The District app enables customers to discover and reserve tables at restaurants and book tickets for movies, sports, live performances, among other events.
Ganjoo heads District business. The app’s downloads have crossed the 6.5 Mn mark.
Besides District, Zomato is also focussing on expanding its quick commerce vertical Blinkit amid rising competition in the space. The company is also experimenting with quick food deliveries via Blinkit’s Bistro and a 15-minute food delivery offering under Zomato.
Notably, Zomato raised INR 8,500 Cr (around $1 Bn) through qualified institutional placement (QIP) in November last year.
On the financial front, the Deepinder Goyal-led company’s consolidated net profit slumped 57.2% to INR 59 Cr in Q3 FY25 from INR 138 Cr in the year-ago quarter due to a slowdown in the food delivery segment and rising competition in the quick commerce space. On a sequential basis, profit declined 66% from INR 176 Cr.
Operating revenue surged 64% to INR 5,405 Cr during the quarter from INR 3,288 Cr in the year-ago period.
Shares of Zomato ended Tuesday’s (January 28) trading session 1.07% higher at INR 208.35 on the BSE.