Pankaj Chaddah co-founded Zomato in 2008 and played a key role in scaling the company before launching wellness startup Shyft.
From IIT Delhi to building Zomato alongside Deepinder Goyal, explore Pankaj Chaddah’s journey of creating one of India’s biggest consumer internet success stories.
Written by TFN Research Desk | covering startups, technology, venture capital, and business strategy.
Table of Contents
- Who is Pankaj Chaddah?
- Early Life and Education
- Career Before Zomato
- How Zomato Started
- Funding History
- Revenue Growth and Recent Challenges
- Public Recognition
- Zomato vs Competitors
- Investor Perspective
- Founder Timeline
- Key Takeaways
- FAQs
- Sources
Who is Pankaj Chaddah?
Pankaj Chaddah co-founded Zomato with Deepinder Goyal in 2008 and served as COO for a decade before stepping down in 2018. A mechanical engineering graduate from IIT Delhi, he later co-founded Shyft, formerly Mindhouse, and is a founding trustee of Plaksha University. Reach him via Zomato and LinkedIn; no public X account exists.
Early Life and Education
Chaddah was born in Delhi into a middle-class family, reports vary on the exact year. He studied at Delhi Public School, R.K. Puram, before joining IIT Delhi in 2003, earning a B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering in 2007. There he met Deepinder Goyal, his future co-founder. Not publicly disclosed is any childhood venture.
Career Before Zomato
After graduating, Chaddah joined Bain & Company as an analyst for roughly two and a half years. It was at Bain’s Delhi office that he and Goyal built an internal restaurant-menu tool for colleagues, the idea that became Zomato.
How Zomato Started
In 2008, Chaddah and Goyal launched Foodiebay, a Delhi NCR restaurant-menu directory, becoming the region’s largest within nine months. In 2010, it rebranded as Zomato, and Chaddah took the COO role, overseeing international expansion into 24 countries and helping introduce Zomato Gold, later renamed Zomato Pro.
Zomato has raised $1.66 billion across 18 rounds, per Tracxn, before listing via a Rs 9,375 crore IPO in 2021. Chaddah had already exited operations in May 2018, though he retained founder shares through the listing.
Why this happened: These figures reflect performance well after Chaddah’s departure. The FY23-to-FY24 turnaround came from improving food delivery margins and narrowing Blinkit losses after its 2022 acquisition, while FY25 growth continued on advertising and quick-commerce volumes.
Public Recognition
Chaddah has not drawn the award attention Goyal has, but industry profiles credit him with driving Zomato’s operational scale-up toward its 2018 unicorn valuation. His current venture, Shyft, has been covered for its rapid early growth, and he is recognised as a founding trustee of Plaksha University in Chandigarh.
Zomato leads Swiggy on revenue and profitability, a position built substantially during the years Chaddah ran day-to-day operations before Blinkit became the newer growth engine.
Investor Perspective
Chaddah’s value lay in operational execution rather than public visibility, running expansion and monetisation while Goyal set direction and raised capital. His 2018 exit, after a decade, reflected a founder choosing a quieter next chapter over staying through the eventual IPO. Shyft’s growth shows he retained an entrepreneurial instinct, though wellness carries thinner margins and slower scale than food-tech. His Plaksha University role signals a shift toward institution-building alongside commercial ventures.
Founder Timeline
- 2003 — Joins IIT Delhi
- 2007 — Graduates in Mechanical Engineering; joins Bain & Company
- 2008 — Co-founds Foodiebay with Deepinder Goyal
- 2010 — Company rebrands as Zomato; Chaddah becomes COO
- 2018 — Zomato hits $1 billion valuation; Chaddah resigns in May
- 2019 — Co-founds Mindhouse (later Shyft) with Pooja Khanna
- 2021 — Zomato lists on NSE and BSE
- 2022 — Zomato acquires Blinkit
- 2025-26 — Shyft expands; Chaddah remains active as investor and Plaksha trustee
Key Takeaways
- Chaddah’s operational role shows a quieter co-founder can be just as essential as the public-facing one.
- Leaving at unicorn status in 2018, before the 2021 IPO, traded upside for an earlier fresh start.
- Building Shyft in wellness tests whether his playbook transfers across sectors.
- His Plaksha University role extends his interests into education infrastructure.
- Net worth estimates for Chaddah vary widely, a reminder to treat private founder wealth figures cautiously.
FAQs
Who founded Zomato?
Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah, in 2008, originally as Foodiebay.
When did Chaddah leave Zomato?
He resigned as COO in May 2018, after roughly a decade.
What did he do after Zomato?
Co-founded Mindhouse, later Shyft, a wellness platform, in 2019.
How much funding did Zomato raise?
$1.66 billion across 18 rounds, per Tracxn.
Is Zomato profitable?
Yes, as of FY25, with a net profit of Rs 527 crore.
What is Chaddah’s net worth?
Not publicly disclosed with certainty; estimates vary widely.
Where did he study?
IIT Delhi, B.Tech Mechanical Engineering, 2007.
Is he involved in education?
Yes, as a founding trustee of Plaksha University.
What makes Zomato different from Swiggy?
Sustained profitability across two fiscal years, versus Swiggy’s widening losses from quick-commerce investment.
Sources
- Pankaj Chaddah: The Visionary Co-Founder Behind Zomato’s Success — Founder Magazine
- Pankaj Chaddah Biography: Zomato to Wellness Innovator — Top Mag
- Meet the man who founded Zomato with Deepinder Goyal, quit to build Shyft — India.com
- The Zomato Story: Founders, History, Success Story, Growth, Funding — StartupTalky
- Zomato Funding Rounds & Investors — Tracxn
- Zomato posts Rs 7,079 Cr revenue and Rs 971 Cr losses in FY23 — Entrackr
- Eternal FY25 Annual Report Highlights: Zomato, Blinkit — Medianama
- Swiggy vs Zomato FY25 Results — IndMoney
- Swiggy Q4 Loss Doubles to Rs 1,081 Cr; FY25 Revenue Rises 35% — Indian Retailer
© The Founder Nation | All rights reserved | Written by TFN Research Desk
