Nikhil Mittal was promoted from senior vice president of engineering to chief technology officer by Zepto, a quick-commerce platform, on Wednesday.

As the company's first hire more than two years ago, Mittal will now oversee the more than 200-person engineering team and be in charge of growing it.

In a recent investment round, the Mumbai-based business raised $31.25 million from returning investors, including Goodwater Capital and Nexus Venture Partners.

Founded in 2021 by two Stanford dropouts, Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, the business raised $200 million in August of last year, and became the first unicorn, valued at $1.4 billion.

Ankit Agarwal, senior vice president of product at Zepto, was promoted to chief product officer three months ago.

Last year, Zepto experienced a number of high-level departures, including chief financial officer Jitendra Nagpal, engineering head Yash Dayal, and chief marketing officer Amritansu Nanda, who left after a two-year term.

Zepto became the first firm to achieve unicorn status in 2023 when it raised $200 million in August of last year at a valuation of $1.4 billion. Goodwater Capital, a venture capital firm based in California, and StepStone Group led the round. Glade Brook Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, and Lachy Groom also participated.

Direct reports to Vohra will be Mittal, Agarwal, and the analytics and data science group.

With about 1,300 workers, Zepto intends to open more dark stores in major cities such as Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata, and the National Capital Region. Goals for the company's profitability include 2024.

BigBasket's BB and Swiggy's Instamart Currently, Zepto's primary rivals in the quick-commerce market are Blinkit from Zomato and Dunzo, which is supported by Reliance Retail.