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Pankaj Chaddah's Swyft journey from Zomato's kitchens to mental health wellness
Pankaj Chaddah, a key co-founder of Zomato, transitioned from the food-tech industry to mental wellness with his new venture, Shyft.
Under Pankaj Chaddah's leadership, Zomato expanded beyond restaurant listings to include food delivery, online ordering, table reservations, and digital payments. (Image: Startup Grind)
In 2008, Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah made a bold move, leaving their lucrative jobs at Bain & Co., to start a company that would go on to transform India's online food space.
Together, they launched FoodieBay, which would later be rebranded as Zomato. The venture began as a simple restaurant directory in Delhi-NCR but quickly expanded to become the go-to platform for food lovers across the country.
With major funding from investors like Info Edge India, Sequoia Capital, and Temasek, Zomato's growth trajectory was undeniable. The turning point was when Ant Financial, an arm of Alibaba, invested $200 million in 2018, helping the company attain unicorn status. However, it was the year that Chaddah decided to leave Zomato.
Early days: Bain & Co and FoodieBay
Chaddah's journey to success was rotted in his engineering background from IIT Delhi and his experience at Bain & Co, where he met his co-founder, Goyal.
As analysts at Bain, they saw a significant gap in the market: the lack of a platform where users could easily explore restaurant menus and reviews, and view menus online.
In 2010, the platform was rebranded as Zomato, and very recently, the food-tech giant officially changed its corporate name to 'Eternal'.
Under Chaddah's leadership, Zomato expanded beyond restaurant listings to include food delivery, online ordering, table reservations, and digital payments.
Venturing into mental wellness with Swyft
After his departure from Zomato in 2019, Chaddah set his sights on the mental wellness space. Partnering with Pooja Khanna, an early Zomato employee, Chaddah launched Mindhouse, a meditation and wellness venture, which was later rebranded to Shyft in 2022.
Initially, Shyft focused on offline meditation studios, but the pandemic forced a pivot to online services, which proved highly successful as the demand for wellness services soared during the lockdown.
By 2021, Shyft was growing at an impressive 30% month-over-month rate, with an annual recurring revenue close to $1 million. In 2022, its valuation was estimated between $20-50 million, solidifying its place as a prominent player in the wellness industry.
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