Avnish Anand Steps Down As CaratLane MD & CEO

SUMMARY

In a LinkedIn post, Avnish Anand attributed the resignation to his desire to reprioritise life, pursue other interests and “regret minimisation”

Anand worked with CaratLane for 13 years in two stints and rose through the ranks to become the cofounder and CEO

CaratLane reported a nearly 5% YoY decline in its net to INR 78.59 Cr in FY24. Operating revenue jumped 41% YoY to INR 3,080 Cr

Tata-owned omnichannel jewellery startup CaratLane’s cofounder, managing director (MD) and CEO Avnish Anand has stepped down after a nine-year stint at the company.

“I have an important life update to share. After more than 13 years (across two stints), my life as a CaratLaner has come to an end,” said Anand in a LinkedIn post on Friday (August 30).

Caratlane has not yet announced a successor to Anand.

In the post, Anand attributed the resignation to his desire to reprioritise life and pursue other interests.

“There are two reasons for my decision. One, is to reprioritise things in life. At the risk of sounding controversial, building a business takes a lot of sacrifice and puts work life balance on the back burner. Given how everything turned out, it was totally worth it though. But things change in life and so do our priorities. Going forward, I am aiming for a lot more balance,” the post read.

Anand also said that he is stepping down from the company to “minimise regret”. “There are lots of things that I have always wanted to do. I want to start now and not leave it for when it’s already too late,” he added.

Speaking about his future, Anand said he plans to continue working in the startup ecosystem and help “build more CaratLanes”. However, he added that he plans to “try a few things” and take some time before figuring out his future course of action.

“I am certain though that I will work in the startup ecosystem and try and help build more CaratLanes. In what capacity is what I am figuring out. Hopefully I will pursue all the other interests that I have. People who know me know what I am talking about,” he added.

An alumnus of IIM-Lucknow, he worked in various capacities with companies such as Standard Chartered Bank, DuPont India and Times Business Solutions before joining CaratLane in 2008.

He left the jewellery startup in 2011 but again joined the company in 2015 as the head of product. He rose through the ranks to become CaratLane’s cofounder and CEO.

He was appointed as the CEO last year, just days after his former boss and cofounder Mithun Sacheti exited CaratLane by selling his shares to Tata Group-owned watchmaking giant Titan.

It is pertinent to note that Titan acquired an additional 27.18% stake in CaratLane for INR 4,621 Cr at a valuation of nearly INR 17,000 Cr in August 2023. Afterwards, the conglomerate picked up the remaining 0.36% stake in the company for INR 60.08 Cr in February 2024.

CaratLane’s net profit declined nearly 5% to INR 78.59 Cr in the fiscal year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 82.08 Cr in FY23 on account of a sharp increase in expenses. Operating revenue rose 41% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 3,080 Cr during the period under review.