IPO-bound Zepto appoints Airtel's Akhil Gupta to company board

Ahead of its IPO, quick commerce unicorn Zepto has appointed Bharti Enterprises vice-chairman Akhil Gupta as an independent director to its board.

Currently, Zepto co-founders Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, alongside Avra founder Anu Hariharan, and Nexus Venture Partners co-founder and Managing Director Suvir Sujan, are among the other board members of the quick commerce firm.

A source privy to the development said Zepto has appointed Airtel's Akhil Gupta to the company board.

Bharti Enterprises is the parent company of Bharti Airtel.

Notably, Mr. Gupta has spearheaded the successful public listings of Bharti Airtel (2002), Bharti Infratel (2012) and Airtel Africa (2019), and is expected to lend his expertise to Zepto as the firm looks to make its stock market debut later this year.

In his role as vice chairman, Mr. Gupta has led the formation of various partnerships for Bharti, with leading international operators like British Telecom, Telecom Italia, Singapore Telecom and Vodafone, in addition to induction of leading financial investors like Warburg Pincus, Temasek, KKR, Qatar Foundation Endowment, AIF and Sequoia, among many other private equity funds.

The source noted that Zepto's appointments have not been limited to strengthening its board. The company has, over the last few years, elevated several executives to senior positions.

In July last year, the quick commerce major promoted Devendra Meel, senior vice president and head of its loyalty programme Pass, to chief business officer a year after he joined the startup. Before that, in January, former senior vice presidents Nikhil Mittal and Divesh Sawhney were promoted to chief technology officer and chief growth officer, respectively.

IPO-bound Zepto, which recently flipped its base back to India from Singapore, has been on a fundraising spree.

The company has raised $1.35 billion in a span of five months. The Bengaluru-based company raised $665 million in June 2024 from Glade Brook Capital, StepStone Group, Nexus Venture Partners and others and then went on to close a $340 million round in August 2024 from General Catalyst and others.

Zepto then followed it up with $350 million fundraising from Motilal Oswal, Ranjan Pai's Claypond Capital and other Indian investors.