ET Corporate Awards | At the core, our startup DNA still continues: Zomato CFO Akshant Goyal

From being the first large Indian consumer internet startup to go public in 2021 to catapulting into the prestigious BSE Sensex cohort in December last year, Zomato’s rise as a public company has been rapid as it has expanded into businesses beyond food delivery over the past few years.

Adding quick commerce through its Blinkit acquisition and later buying out Paytm Insider to bulk up its going-out business, Zomato’s success has emanated from combining profitability with the growth potential of its quick commerce unit and other new businesses which drove its market capitalisation to an all-time high of Rs 2.75 lakh crore ($32 billion) by December 2024.

“At the core, our startup DNA still continues… and as a startup we need to remain optimistic about the future. The enthusiasm still remains for us and we continue to run the business in the same way even today as we were before we listed,” said chief financial officer Akshant Goyal.


While receiving the Emerging Company of the Year award at The ET Awards for Corporate Excellence in Mumbai, Goyal said Zomato is a unique business in India, in terms of the amount of direct and indirect employment the business creates.

“Today, about 25 lakh people earn their livelihoods through the ecosystem we’ve built together. This includes hundreds of thousands of restaurants, lakhs of delivery partners and warehouse workers,” he said, adding: “This award is a tribute to them — the real backbone of our journey. I also hope this award inspires other founders building new businesses and shaping the future of India.”