Tata Digital Shake-Up: BigBasket and 1mg Founders Step Back as New Leadership Takes Over

Tata Digital is undergoing a major leadership reset: BigBasket co-founders Hari Menon and Vipul Parekh are in the final stages of exiting, while 1mg’s Prashant Tandon and Gaurav Agarwal are weighing their future amid uncertainty over IPO timelines and shareholder exits, reported The Economic Times (ETtech), on April 3, 2026. This marks a decisive shift toward professionalized management under Tata Digital’s broader “super-app” strategy.

Key Developments

BigBasket

• Hari Menon (CEO) and Vipul Parekh (co-founder) are stepping back from operational roles.
• Tata Digital is actively searching for a professional CEO to lead the grocery platform.
• The company is pivoting aggressively into quick commerce, competing with Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart.
• Despite strong revenue growth, losses have widened as it plays catch-up in the instant delivery segment.

1mg (Tata 1mg)

• Founders Prashant Tandon and Gaurav Agarwal are reassessing their roles after five years with Tata.
• IPO plans remain uncertain, creating frustration among founders and other shareholders.
• Core operations have turned EBITDA positive, but fundraising challenges persist.

Tata Digital Strategy

• CEO Sajith Sivanandan is driving a profitability-first reset, emphasizing financial discipline.
• The exits are part of a professionalization push, moving away from founder-led operations.
• Tata Digital aims to consolidate its acquisitions (BigBasket, 1mg, Curefit) into a cohesive super-app ecosystem.

Comparison of Founder Exits

Company	Founders Exiting	Reason for Exit	Current Status	Strategic Challenge
BigBasket	Hari Menon, Vipul Parekh	Tata Digital wants a professional CEO	Transition plan underway	Late entry into quick commerce, rising losses
1mg	Prashant Tandon, Gaurav Agarwal	IPO uncertainty, unclear exit path	Founders evaluating next steps	Fundraising hurdles despite EBITDA-positive ops

Risks & Implications

• Leadership vacuum risks cultural disruption.
• Competitive pressure from entrenched rivals in quick commerce.
• Investor concerns over unclear IPO timelines.
• Execution risk in integrating diverse verticals into a super-app.

For India’s quick commerce and digital health sectors, these exits signal a maturing phase where Tata Digital prioritizes scale, profitability, and professional management over founder-driven growth. Expect more aggressive competition in India’s delivery market (Blinkit, Zepto, Instamart vs. BigBasket) and potential consolidation moves in digital health as 1mg recalibrates its IPO ambitions.
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Tata Pay and DigiO Get Payment Aggregator Licences from RBI

Tata Payments, a Tata group's digital payments app, has received payment aggregator (PA) licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). With this Tata Pay will compete with likes of Walmart-backed PhonePe and Google Pay in order to capture a pie of the aggressively growing payments market.

Besides Tata Pay, Bengaluru-based identity verification startup DigiO has also secured the PA licence, as of January 1, from RBI. Backed by investment platform Groww, DigiO collects recurring payments via-e-NACH and is focused on bringing paperless, hassle-free documentation and digital processes to Indian businesses and consumers.

Tata Payments is held through Tata Digital, a Tata Group's subsidiary entity, which houses its digital businesses.

Tata Group launched its digital payments application on the Unified Payments Interface in partnership with ICICI Bank in 2022.

Notably, Tata Pay is the second payment business of the Tata Group. The Group also has a license to operate 'White Label ATM' in rural areas with business name and of – Indicash, through which cash is provided in remote areas. According to RBI data, Tata Group has also tried it hands in prepaid payment business (mobile wallet) earlier, but the company surrendered this license in 2018 due to lukewarm response.

Tata launches New Entity to Incubate New-Age Digital Business 'Tata Digital'

Mumbai, Aug 22 (PTI) Salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Sons Thursday announced a new entity to incubate new-age digital business called Tata Digital.

The USD 110-billion group appointed Pratik Pal, a veteran of the group's software arm TCS, as the chief executive of the new venture. The new entity is "formed to incubate new digital businesses", an official statement from Tata Sons said.

The statement announcing Pal's appointment did not offer any details on the investment in the new venture or the exact contours of the same.

A recent media report based on the interview of group chairman N Chandrasekaran had said Tata Sons would infuse Rs 1,000 crore in the new vertical.

[caption id="attachment_134116" align="alignright" width="300"] Pratik Pal[/caption]

"The company will create a number of digital platforms. We have already identified the platforms we want to create. The first platform is already being built and the next two to three platforms are in the process of being developed," Chandrasekaran had said.

Pal was responsible for growth of TCS' second largest industry segment as the global head of retail, travel, transportation, hospitality and consumer packaged goods industry unit, the statement said.

"Pal will play a key role in building new growth platforms. His experience and commitment will be very valuable in shaping and developing new opportunities for the Tata Group in the digital economy," Chandrasekaran said.

He assumed the new role Wednesday. PTI AA