Conflict of interest? Mukesh Bansal steps down from Swiggy’s board
Mukesh Bansal, co-founder of health and fitness start-up CureFit Healthcare Pvt. Ltd, has stepped down from the board of food delivery platform Swiggy (Bundl Technologies Pvt. Ltd), a role he assumed about six months ago.
Swiggy confirmed the development though Bansal declined comment.
According to three people aware of the development, Bansal stepped down earlier this month over a “conflict of interest” as CureFit, a startup he founded with former Flipkart Ltd executive Ankit Nagori in March last year, is also contemplating food delivery that overlaps with Swiggy’s core business.
The three spoke on condition of anonymity.
“Curefit will launch subscription-based health food delivery soon. While Swiggy has a broader horizon, still, the business overlaps and there is a conflict of interest. Hence, (Mukesh) Bansal stepped down,” said one of the three people cited above.
CureFit had acquired online health-food delivery company Kristys Kitchen for an undisclosed amount in a cash and stock deal in March this year. Kristys Kitchen prepares and delivers international healthy food. Founded in September 2016 by Cristina Maiorescu, Cedric Carvalho and Sumit Sinha, the company has a kitchen in Bengaluru and claims to be operationally cash positive and servicing over 250 orders a day, Mint reported on March 1.
Bansal, who had earlier founded online fashion store Myntra Designs Pvt Ltd before selling it to Flipkart Ltd, had joined Swiggy and online freight operator Rivigo as an independent director in October last year.
His latest venture, CureFit, raised as much $15 million in a Series A round from Kalaari Capital, Accel Partners and IDG Ventures in June last year, one of the largest early rounds of funding ever by an Indian start-up.
Incidentally, Accel Partners is also an investor in Swiggy.
The food delivery segment is dominated by Swiggy and Zomato Media Pvt Ltd, but neither deals with speciality cuisines. Both Swiggy and Zomato aggregate restaurants on their platforms and facilitate delivery on a commission basis.