News: Akriti Chopra to lead the financial agenda for Zomato

Appointments

Akriti Chopra to lead the financial agenda for Zomato

After almost a year when previous Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Sameer Maheshwary resigned from the Gurugram-headquartered company, Zomato appoints a new head for finance.
Akriti Chopra to lead the financial agenda for Zomato

Akriti Chopra, who has been working on building Zomato’s finance and legal teams for more than 8 years now, has been elevated to the role of Chief Financial Officer (CFO). 

Chopra joined the startup in November 2011 as Senior Manager, Finance & Operations. In less than a year, she got promoted as VP, Finance & Operations. Now the 32-year-old Chartered Accountant, who is also a Commerce graduate from Lady Sri Ram College for Women is all set to lead the financial agenda of the company. 

Commenting on Chopra’s appointment, Deepinder Goyal, chief executive of Zomato said, “Akriti has been building our finance and legal teams for more than 8 years now. Her analytical bent of mind, high level of ownership and moral authority make her a great fit for a CFO role at Zomato.”

Zomato had been on the lookout for a finance head for almost a year now, after Sameer Maheshwary  left the company in December last year. Maheshwary held the role for a brief period of time. After spending less than six months in the company, he left to pursue, what was described at the time as, ‘different personal and professional interests’.

In the interim, Zomato’s Chief Operating Officer, Gaurav Gupta, who is also a co-founder of the company, was taking care of the finance function.

Started in 2008, Indian restaurant aggregator and food delivery company, Zomato has seen immense growth in 11 years. It has expanded to 24 countries and currently serves 10,000 cities globally. Recently, it claimed that its platform witnessed 11.2 million average monthly transacting users in the first half of fiscal year 2019-20, and the average monthly active restaurants increased to 119,000 restaurants for the same period. 

While Zomato expands and grows, as per a recent report, it has also been on a tear to improve its P&L and halving its cash burn. The newly appointed, CFO, Chopra has some critical focus areas to attend to as she begins her new phase in the company. As she was named CFO back in April and her appointment was approved by the Zomato board at a meeting held on November 8, she probably has laid out plans to help Zomato improve its P&L and strengthen the company’s financial strategy. 

For the first half of the financial year 2019-20, Zomato's revenues stood at $205 Mn, three times better than last year, when it stood at $63 Mn. 

 

 

Image source: Zomato

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Topics: Appointments, Leadership

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