Hari Menon
Hari Menon graduated from BITS Pilani in the year 1983. He started his career with ORG Systems, subsequently moving on to work with many of the best and most respected names in the country, including TVS Electronics, Wipro Infotech, Planetasia.com and Integrated Data Systems. He was also the CEO of ‘Indiaskills’ – the Vocational Education joint venture between Manipal Education Group and City & Guilds (UK). Hari’s entrepreneurial journey began in 1999 when he cofounded Fabmart, one of the pioneers in e-commerce in India and its physical extension – Fabmall, a chain of grocery stores in South India, which was acquired by Aditya Birla Group in 2006 and renamed ‘More’.
Hari Menon is the CEO of Bigbasket.com, a company he co-founded in December 2011 with a vision of setting up India’s finest online food and grocery company. Bigbasket, India’s largest online supermarket, delivers the entire range of groceries, fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh meat, dairy products, processed foods, toiletries, personal care products, gourmet foods and a wide range of household products in 70 cities in India. Their range has 50,000 products and over 1000 brands. The key to success of Bigbasket lies in their deep understanding of the grocery and perishables supply chain, working closely with 40,000 farmers, constant innovation using technology and unmatchable Customer Service. Bigbasket delivers more than 4,50,000 orders per day, has a team of 29,000 people and a base of 20 million customers.
He has received widespread recognition for his extraordinary contribution as an entrepreneur. Hari was awarded "The Distinguished Alumnus Award - 2017" by his Alma Mater – BITS Pilani, in the category of "Entrepreneurship", in recognition of his outstanding contribution to society as an Entrepreneur. Through his achievements, Hari has brought glory and laurels to his Alma Mater – BITS Pilani.
Recently, Hari was appointed on the Governing Council of BITSoM, BITS School of Management, a new age management school set up in Mumbai.
He and his company are recipients of prominent awards namely - Consumer Internet Company of the Year by VC Circle Awards 2016; Ranked 4th by YourStory in the Top 100 Indian startups with gravity defying momentum in 2015; Best Startup of the year in 2014 by Bangalore Management Association; Best Online Grocer at the Coca Cola Golden Spoon Awards 2016; First runner up (Silver) at the Global eCommerce Summit Awards held in Barcelona; Best Retail and eCommerce App of the Year at the AWS Mobility Awards 2017; Rated the Top Brand in the Forrester’s India Customer Experience Index 2016. Very recently, Bigbasket was awarded Startup of the Year at the Business Standard Annual Awards 2019.
To his independent credit, Hari has been awarded for entrepreneurship by the Indira Group of Institutions; AUDI-RITZ ICON AWARDS from RITZ lifestyle magazine in the category of Entrepreneurship and “Champion of Tomorrow” by CEO INDIA Magazine. He is a regular speaker at most major retail and e-commerce forums/events in India. He is a fond lover of music and cricket. He plays the guitar and performed for his rock band, 'The Thunk', at BITS Pilani. The band performed at cultural festivals and music clubs.