DriveU Cofounder Ashok Shastry Steps Down

SUMMARY

The cofounder and ex-CEO stepped away from his day-to-day role for "personal" reasons. He will continue to be on DriveU's board

His father and cofounder Ramprasad Shastry has been helming the startup as its executive chairman and CEO since 2022

Ashok told Inc42 in May last year that the startup was in talks with investors to raise $10 Mn in its Series B round, a round which likely didn't materialise

On-demand driver aggregator platform DRIVEU’s cofounder Ashok Shastry has stepped down from his day-to-day role at the startup. He will continue to be on DriveU’s board.

In a detailed post on LinkedIn, Shastry said that his decision to step away from DriveU’s operations at the end of July was “purely a personal one” and was independent of the startup’s business performance and strategic direction.

“I’m proud of what we’ve built— a thriving platform, a stellar team, two consecutive EBITDA-positive years, and a strong culture that has enabled us to weather some of the most challenging moments, including the pandemic,” he wrote.

Shastry founded the startup with his father Ramprasad Shastry in 2015 as a one-stop platform for users to hire drivers and chauffeurs on an hourly basis. The 10-year old startup claims to have enabled over 5 Mn rides for over 650K customers since its inception.

Ashok held the COO position at DriveU till 2022, taking up the CEO position afterwards. He then moved to the position of chief growth officer in late 2024, holding that position for about nine months before putting down his papers. Meanwhile, his father and cofounder Ramprasad has been helming the startup as its executive chairman and CEO since 2022.

Notably, Ashok told Inc42 in May last year that the startup was in talks with investors to raise $10 Mn in its Series B round. Back then, he said that the funding round would be closed over the next 2-3 months.

However, the discussions likely fell through as there has neither been any announcement from the startup about the fundraise nor any regulatory filing.

DriveU has raised a total funding of $8 Mn since its inception from investors like NeerUnitus, Singhal Foundation, among others.

On the financial front, it turned profitable in the fiscal year FY24, reporting a PAT of INR 11.3 Lakh as against a loss of INR 2.3 Cr in the previous year. Meanwhile, its operating revenue surged 66% to INR 24.6 Cr from INR 15 Cr in FY23. The startup is yet to file its financial statements for FY25.