Swiggy’s reclusive CEO Sriharsha Majety, who made a rare public appearance on his company’s much-awaited IPO day, revealed that he came up with the idea of the company during his college days.
Speaking at the NSE listing ceremony, Sriharsha Majety told the story of how the idea of Swiggy came to him during a college project at IIM Calcutta.
“I completely forgot about it after that college project finished. And then, in a very different way, again came across it, without knowing it [consciously],” he revealed.
He added that seeing the idea that he came up with for a college project be executed was a miracle. “For that idea to have first gotten executed is in itself a rarity. But to execute it at the size and scale that we have right now is an absolute miracle,” he said.
Majety started his first logistics startup Bundl but it soon began struggling. In 2014, he joined hands with co-founders Nandan Reddy and Rahul Jaimini, to turn Bundl into a food delivery company that became Swiggy.
{{/usCountry}}Majety started his first logistics startup Bundl but it soon began struggling. In 2014, he joined hands with co-founders Nandan Reddy and Rahul Jaimini, to turn Bundl into a food delivery company that became Swiggy.
{{/usCountry}}“With a little bit of Swiggy in your lives, you’ll enjoy the economic growth that comes with it," he said.
(Also read: Zomato gives ‘Jai and Veeru’ vibes with special meme for rival Swiggy on IPO day)
Swiggy and Zomato's camaraderie
Swiggy's shares started trading in Mumbai on Wednesday and social media was abuzz as its stock hit the market. Among those who congratulated the food delivery giant was rival Zomato.
“You and I… In this beautiful world,” Zomato's official account posted on X, sharing a photo of two men wearing Swiggy and Zomato t-shirts outside the stock exchange.
Swiggy replied in a Bollywood reference and said, “It’s giving Jai and Veeru????"
Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal also congratulated Swiggy on the market debut. "Couldn't have asked for a better company to serve India with." Swiggy said, "Excitement mein 20 litre chai pe li #SwiggyIPO”.
(Also read: Swiggy IPO will turn 500 employees into crorepatis today)