Online food delivery marketplace foodpanda has announced the appointment of Gautam Balijepalli as its Head of Strategy. In his new role, Balijepalli will directly work with the CEO and leadership team to lay out a strategic direction in sync with the organisation’s business objectives.
This newly created role at foodpanda is envisioned to synergise with the food tech ecosystem for a unified approach towards creating the best offerings for partner restaurants and consumers, the company said in a statement today.
Balijepalli was earlier a venture capital investor at Ojas Ventures where he invested in a number of companies and helped them scale through active board-level involvement. An alumnus of IIT Chennai and London Business School, Balijepalli joins the team with a strong entrepreneurial background having co-founded CartPerk Technologies. He has also been an investor and mentor to businesses, such as WarmOven, in the food space.
“With Gautam coming on board, we intend to bring pertinent changes in our strategic direction and create the right intervention points for the industry to innovate and grow. His professional experience and industry knowledge will be great sources of insights for the goals we have set out to achieve for restaurant partners, delivery riders and consumers. His addition to the team is a step towards building a strong food tech ecosystem in the country,” said Pranay Jivrajka, CEO, foodpanda India.
“The food tech industry is rapidly changing globally. With 1.3 Billion people and only 2 percent of total food orders placed online, India is a market with massive potential. With that context, leveraging best practices will be our top priority to create value for all stakeholders, including consumers and restaurant partners. It is an exciting time for Foodpanda India and I look forward to working with Pranay and the team to drive significant value in this growing industry,” Balijepalli said.
The company further eyes to capitalize growth opportunities through deep partnerships with key restaurants, cloud kitchens and expansion of its delivery network.
With recent funds allocation, foodpanda said it is working on building a seamless experience for all its stakeholders – partner restaurants, riders, and end consumers – and creating a long-term business value.
