And following the trend of big hirings started by the Flipkarts and Snapdeals, Zomato, which is probably one of India’s more known startups on a global stage, today announced the appointment of Durga Raghunath as the Senior Vice President of Growth. Durga Raghunath is one of the biggest names in the Global digital media scene, known for her role as the CEO of Network 18 Digital.
Prior to joining Zomato, Durga Raghunath was CEO of Network18 Digital, where she was responsible for all their content properties, including Moneycontrol, Burrp!, IBNLive, and Mobile18, in addition to being CEO of Firstpost. She joined Network18 as VP Products in 2010, to set up India’s first exclusively digital newsroom, Firstpost, from scratch.
Announcing the appointment, Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal said,
There are very few people who have a 360-degree understanding of how to run a business. I am excited to have Durga with us to keep Zomato on its growth trajectory for years to come.
Prior to joining Network18, Durga was with The Wall Street Journal as India Editor (mobile services and new product development); before that, she served as the GM/Managing Editor of Livemint, the digital presence for HT Media’s financial daily, Mint.
Upon joining Zoamto’s leadership team, Durga Raghunath said,
I have always been impressed by the way Zomato delivered true product value by getting the details right. Deepinder’s comprehensive vision for the future has made me even more certain of Zomato’s excellence. I’m very excited to have this opportunity.
The appointment of Durga Raghunath continues the latest trend among India’s front-running startups like Flipkart, Snapdeal and Zomato, who have been getting top notch leaders as their hires, not just from India, but from across the globe.
Flipkart recently announced the appointment of two notable ex-Googlers, Puneet Soni and Peeyush Ranjan for its e-commerce division.
Zomato on the other hand, has probably been, by far the most aggressively expanding Indian startup on a global arena. The startup, which started as a restaurant discovery app for India, is now present in over 22 countries, all through numerous acquisitions which also includes a staggering $52 Million it spent for the then interactive Corp owned Urban Spoon. The acquisition was one of the biggest by an Indian startup of a foreign firm.
Zomato currently serves over 35 Million active visitors every month via its apps across the globe, with that number growing exponentially.
