BigBasket Co-founder Hari Menon Retires From His Full-time Role After 14 Years

After spending 14 years building BigBasket from the ground up, co-founder Hari Menon has stepped away from his full-time role at the Tata Group-owned grocery company.

September 30 was Menon’s last day as a full-time employee at BigBasket. However, this is not a complete goodbye. He will continue to be part of the company’s board and will also advise and support its leadership team.

Menon had already stepped down as BigBasket’s CEO in June. Former Amazon executive Amit Nanda took over the day-to-day operations of the company. Co-founder Vipul Parekh, along with Menon, was also expected to remain on the board and help the new leadership team during the transition.

Menon co-founded BigBasket in 2011 and played a key role in turning it from a scheduled grocery delivery service into one of India’s biggest online grocery platforms.

His exit from the full-time role comes at an important time for BigBasket. The grocery business has been putting a strong focus on quick commerce as customers increasingly look for faster deliveries. The company is competing with major players such as Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart.

Menon has previously spoken openly about how difficult it was to understand the quick-commerce shift in the beginning. He admitted that he was initially “in denial” about the growing trend, but later realised that quick commerce was changing how people shop and that BigBasket also needed to change with it.

By the time he stepped down as CEO, BigBasket had more than 900 dark stores across over 60 cities, according to Menon.

Even after leaving the CEO position, Menon made it clear that he was not completely leaving BigBasket. “Founders never quit,” he had said, explaining that he would continue supporting the company through the board and by mentoring the leadership team under Amit Nanda.

Now, after years of running and building one of India’s most recognised grocery businesses, Menon wants to spend more time on some of his personal passions.

Music and travel are high on his list. He plans to get back to playing the guitar, travel across India in his Jeep and work on expanding the busking culture in Bengaluru.

Menon is also working on setting up a music studio and an experience space. Sharing a message around his retirement, he said, “Let's catch up soon so that you can see me in my new avatar.”

From building BigBasket to exploring a completely different chapter of life, Hari Menon’s journey is now taking a new turn - while he continues to stay connected with the company he helped build.