What Zomato CEO said about 'giants' Swiggy, Amazon, Paytm ahead of share listing

Ahead of the much-awaited listing of its shares, Zomato's co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Deepinder Goyal penned a note to his workers and shareholders expressing his belief that giants like Flipkart, Amazon, Ola, Uber, Paytm have laid the railroads that are enabling companies like Zomato to build the India of the future.

After the overwhelming response from retail investors for its initial public offering, the food delivery platform CEO wrote, "The future looks exciting. I don’t know whether we will succeed or fail – we will surely, like always, give it our best."

Shares of the firm listed at nearly 53 per cent premium in its debut trade against its issue price of Rs 76. With this rally, its market valuation went past the Rs 1-lakh-crore mark on BSE.

Goyal wrote that although India is a tough market to operate in if one is building to succeed they are already exceptional.

"I say that because I believe Zomato and Swiggy are two of the best food delivery apps in the world today. We have a long way to go before we can call ourselves world class by our customers’ standards, but we are determined to get there," he wrote.

Also read: Zomato shares open at Rs 116, 53% above offer price in market debut

Zomato's over 10 -year journey has not always been smooth. It has lived through many ups and downs – something not every company has the privilege of living long enough to do, he added.

"...We have found ourselves managing times of crisis on different occasions in much the same way – impatiently staying focused on the long term, executing relentlessly, and committing ourselves to doing the very best we can do today," Goyal said.

Even in its hardest times, the company has had half of its tech/engineering team work on long-term initiatives, he added.

"We are going to relentlessly focus on 10 years out and beyond, and are not going to alter our course for short term profits at the cost of long term success of the company," Goyal said.

The tremendous response to the company's IPO, "gives us the confidence that the world is full of investors who appreciate the magnitude of investments we are making, and take a long term view of our business," he added.

They say it takes a village to raise a child, and Zomato is no exception, he said, noting that hundreds of people have selflessly played a part in making Zomato what it is today.

He also thanked the investors who have stood by the company through thick and thin.

Zomato stands proudly and humbly on the shoulders of giants, and thanks everyone for giving it, and so many other startups, the opportunity to look ahead into the future, he added.

"I don't know whether we will succeed or fail – we will surely, like always, give it our best. But I hope that the fact that we are here, inspires millions of Indians to dream bigger than we ever have, and build something way more incredible than what we can dream of," Goyal said.

Goyal also retweeted a tweet of Info Edge (India) founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani, "Congratulations and very well done team Zomato and Deepinder. Great things take time to build. Thank you for making us look like smart investors."

(With agency inputs)