Ahead of IPO, Zepto appoints Airtel's Akhil Gupta to company board
Quick commerce unicorn Zepto has appointed Akhil Gupta, vice chairman of Bharti Enterprises—the parent company of Bharti Airtel—as an independent director to its board, as it prepares for an initial public offering (IPO). Gupta, who has led the public listings of Bharti Airtel (2002), Bharti Infratel (2012), and Airtel Africa (2019), is expected to lend his expertise to Zepto. The firm plans to make its stock market debut later this year. Currently, Zepto’s board includes co-founders Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, alongside Avra founder Anu Hariharan and Nexus Venture Partners co-founder and managing director Suvir Sujan. As part of his role as vice chairman, Gupta has led the formation of various partnerships for Bharti with international operators such as British Telecom, Telecom Italia, Singapore Telecom and Vodafone, and has brought on board leading financial investors like Warburg Pincus, Temasek, KKR, Qatar Foundation Endowment, AIF and Sequoia, among other private equity funds.