PhonePe-Owned Indus Appstore’s CEO Rakesh Deshmukh Steps Down

Rakesh Deshmukh, the cofounder and CEO of PhonePe-owned app discovery platform Indus OS (Indus Appstore), has quit the startup after a decade-long stint.

Deshmukh, who cofounded Indus OS along with Akash Dongre and Sudhir Bangarambandi in 2013, announced his departure on LinkedIn. While his next move is unclear, he said he was “taking a moment to recharge and prepare for the next impactful journey”.

Dongre is currently the CPO of Indus Appstore, while Bangarambandi is its CTO.

The top-level exit comes as Indus Appstore gears up to launch its Android mobile app marketplace in the coming months to challenge tech giant Google’s Play Store.

“We wish Rakesh the very best for his future endeavours. Akash, Sudhir, and the entire Indus team remain steadfast in their commitment to advancing the shared vision for the Indus Appstore, which Rakesh played a pivotal role in nurturing over the past decade,” a PhonePe spokesperson said.

Indus Appstore made its name by building an operating system focused on Indian languages and had partnerships with several Indian mobile brands, including Samsung, Micromax and Karbonn. It has also built an app marketplace, Indus App Bazaar, that supports 12 Indian languages and clocked a user base of over 200 Mn in its lifetime.

Walmart-owned payments giant PhonePe acquired Indus OS in 2022 after a long legal battle. The acquisition culminated in PhonePe opening its mobile app store to app developers for Android in September 2023. 

The app marketplace said it would charge a 0% fee on in-app purchases. In contrast, Google levies a 15-30% fee from developers on in-app purchases and paid app sales. Indus Appstore will also allow developers to list their apps in 12 Indian languages, apart from English, and upload media and videos to their app listings in these languages.

“I was fortunate to work with Sameer Nigam (PhonePe cofounder) and learned a lot under his guidance. He is an exceptional team leader and shares the same belief in India’s Appstore as I do,” Deshmukh said in the LinkedIn post.

In November 2023, Indus Appstore announced onboarding Indian real-money game developers, including Dream11, Nazara Technologies, Gameskraft, and Mobile Premier League (MPL), to its platform. 

The PhonePe-owned startup has also partnered with device makers such as Nokia and Lava to integrate the app store into their devices.

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