Southeast Asia-based Flash Coffee has named former Foodpanda CEO Jakob Angele as its executive chairman, while SoftBank-backed Swiggy has hired Amitesh Jha as Instamart CEO.
Flash Coffee ropes in ex-Foodpanda CEO Angele
Tech-enabled coffee chain Flash Coffee has appointed Jakob Angele, former CEO of food and grocery delivery platform Foodpanda, as its executive chairman, Tech in Asia reported.
Angele joins Flash Coffee after stepping down from his role as CEO of Foodpanda in October. He was CEO of the company since 2017 and was replaced by John Fang, who served as the chief international officer (APAC region) of Foodpanda’s parent firm Delivery Hero.
According to the report, Angele was roped in for Flash Coffee to hit profitability after it filed for provisional liquidation last year for its Singapore entity. In November, distressed buyout investor Turn Capital also acquired the Thailand business of Flash Coffee.
Angele reunites with Flash Coffee founder and CEO David Brunier, who was CMO for Asia Pacific at Foodpanda prior to founding the coffee chain.
Swiggy appoints former Flipkart exec as Instamart CEO
IPO-bound Indian food delivery firm Swiggy has named Amitesh Jha, former senior vice president of category and marketplace at e-commerce major Flipkart, as chief executive of Instamart, its quick commerce unit.
Jha, who will start his role on September 4, will be the third CEO to helm the quick commerce vertical in the last two years. The current CEO of Instamart and co-founder of Swiggy, Phani Kishan, assumed the role in April 2023 following the exit of Karthik Gurumurthy, who left the company to start his own venture.
An alumnus of IIT Delhi and IIM Ahmedabad, Jha will take over from Kishan, who will assume a broader organisation-wide role overseeing Swiggy’s Central Growth unit.
Swiggy recorded a $200-million loss for the nine months to December 2023, according to an internal document of the company, which is looking to list on the stock market.
The SoftBank-backed company could list by the end of this year, sources previously told Reuters.
