bigbasket's Hari Menon denies reports claiming leadership changes; says, 'No plans to hire a new CEO'

bigbasket co-founder and CEO Hari Menon has denied reports claiming leadership changes at the company, saying there are no plans to hire a new CEO.

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Menon said in a statement that the founding team is not bound by any exit timelines and remains committed to leading the company. He added that there have been no discussions with the board about succession planning and no formal CEO search has begun.

“There are no plans to hire a new CEO for bigbasket, and no formal search process has been initiated for such a role,” Menon said in a statement. He emphasised the company’s focus on stability, innovation and growth, while assuring customers, employees, and partners that bigbasket remains on track.

The response comes after an ET report claimed that the company’s founders were in talks with Tata Group, which acquired a 64.3% stake in BigBasket’s B2B arm in 2021, to step away from day-to-day operations and transition into mentoring roles. The report mentioned that Menon’s five-year tenure as CEO was nearing its end and that he had been shortlisting candidates in consultation with the board.

BigBasket was founded in 2011 by Menon, Vipul Parekh, VS Sudhakar, Abhinay Choudhari and VS Ramesh. Parekh oversees finance and marketing, while Ramesh heads logistics and supply chain. Choudhari left after Tata’s acquisition. The company was valued at $3.2 billion when it raised $200 million from Tata Digital three years ago.

BigBasket, which is known for being an early mover in the online grocery segment, has faced growing pressure from quick-commerce rivals Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and Zepto. According to Tata Sons’ annual report, its consumer-facing unit reported revenue of Rs 7,673 crore in FY25, down 3% from the previous year, while losses widened to Rs 1,851 crore from Rs 1,267 crore. Its B2B unit posted a 7% revenue drop to Rs 2,227 crore.