Rinshul Chandra, Chief Operating Officer of Zomato’s (Eternal’s) food delivery business, has resigned effective April 7. Chandra has been with the company since 2018 and was promoted to COO in 2023.
In his resignation letter, he stated that he was stepping down to “pursue new opportunities and passions that align with my evolving personal and professional goals.” Zomato has not yet announced a successor. The food delivery segment remains Zomato’s largest revenue-generating vertical.
Chandra’s resignation marks the third significant leadership departure in recent months. The pattern suggests a period of considerable churn within the company’s senior management.
Akriti Chopra, co-founder and Chief People Officer, resigned in September 2024 after being with the company since 2011. Hemal Jain, Global Head of Finance and CFO of B2B grocery supply unit Hyperpure, resigned in December 2024 after a six-year stint to explore other opportunities. Gunjan Soni also resigned from her position as an Independent Director in October last year.
Zomato has reportedly laid off approximately 500–600 junior employees from its Zomato Associate Accelerator Programme (ZAAP). Launched last year, the ZAAP initiative brought in around 1,500 entry-level staff for customer service roles, with the stated objective of grooming them for broader operational functions.
Of the original intake, around 1,000 have been retained, with the company attributing the layoffs to “performance-related concerns.” The development comes amid a broader push for AI-driven automation in customer support and intensifying competition in the quick commerce segment.
The company’s food delivery segment, led by Rakesh Ranjan, has experienced a slowdown in growth amid broader consumption softness. Eternal CEO Deepinder Goyal had previously acknowledged systemic issues in food delivery contributing to this slowdown.
Growth in Gross Order Value (GOV) for the food delivery vertical has decelerated:
- Q2 FY25: 4% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) growth to INR 9,690 Cr.
- Q3 FY25: 2.3% QoQ growth to INR 9,913 Cr.
Zomato has also faced a setback in its profitability amid intensifying competition and escalating cash burn in the quick commerce segment. For the quarter that ended in December 2024 (Q3 FY25), the company reported a sharp 57% year-on-year decline in net profit to ₹59 crore, down from ₹138 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. The weaker financial performance has prompted at least one brokerage—BofA Securities—to downgrade its rating on Zomato and revise its target price downward.
Zomato has recently rebranded itself as Eternal Limited. The new corporate structure will house four key business verticals: Zomato (food delivery), Blinkit (quick commerce), District (function yet to be clearly outlined), and Hyperpure (B2B grocery supply).
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