Zappfresh hires ex-MobiKwik executive Ankur Shrivastava as CTO

Gurgaon-based DSM Fresh Foods Pvt. Ltd, which runs online startup Zappfresh that sells raw meat and associated ready-to-eat produce, has appointed ex-Mobikwik executive Ankur Shrivastava as its chief technology officer (CTO).

At Zappfresh, Shrivastava will be responsible for inventing technology and processes for farm-tech which will help connect farmers, vendors and retail channels, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

"I am excited to work on developing the technology which will help in real-time data and assets tracking for attaining transparency in the meat supply chain system," said Shrivastava.

Prior to joining Zappfresh, Shrivastava was a part of the core team at mobile wallet and online payment company MobiKwik, which is run by One Mobikwik Systems Pvt. Ltd, and was responsible for setting up and developing scalable technology for the company.

Zappfresh, which was launched by Deepanshu Manchanda and Shruti Gochhwal in July last year, procures meat from the farms and claims that it ensures the produce reaches the end customer in 90 minutes once the order is placed on its portal. The firm is operational in Gurgaon and South Delhi, though it charges for small-ticket delivery outside Gurgaon.

The company, which claimed to have achieved operational breakeven in February, offers 40 items, including whole chicken, mutton and pork. It also sells pre-cooked items and cold cuts like ham, sausages and salami. In August 2016, it was delivering about 12,000 orders a month.

In August 2016, it raised an undisclosed amount in fresh funding from two investors. The company had raised Rs 2 crore ($300,000) in its angel round of funding last year.

Meat ordering startups are also catching investors' attention. Last year, former Infosys board member and CFO TV Mohandas Pai, co-founder and former senior managing director of Helion Venture Partners Kanwaljit Singh and a few others made a seed investment of about $1 million (Rs 6.4 crore) in three-month-old online meat ordering startup Licious run by Bangalore-based Delightful Gourmet Pvt. Ltd.

Moreover, a bunch of meat suppliers themselves have raised venture funding. VenturEast backed VKS Farms Pvt. Ltd and Omnivore Partners invested in Guwahati-based pork meat distributor Arohan Foods Pvt. Ltd.