Rejig At Inshorts: Azhar Iqubal Becomes Chairman, Deepit Purkayastha The New CEO

In a major rejig, news aggregator Inshorts has elevated incumbent CEO and cofounder Azhar Iqubal to the position of chairman. Meanwhile, cofounder Deepit Purkayastha has been promoted as the new CEO of the startup.

“Azhar has led from the front through ups and downs. I thank Azhar on behalf of the company and I feel honoured to take on the role of CEO to lead the company through the next phase of growth,” said cofounder and new CEO Purkayastha.

In a statement, the company said that Purkayastha will guide the company through the next phase of growth. Iqubal stepped down from the post of the CEO after an 11-year long stint. 

Commenting on the transition, Iqubal added, “After leading the company for 11 years as CEO, I have decided to step into the role of chairman of the company. My cofounder, Deepit, who has been an instrumental part of our journey from the beginning, will take charge as the CEO of the company and I am excited to see him lead our company to even greater heights.”

Founded in 2013 by Iqubal, Purkayastha and Anunay Arunav, Inshorts aggregates news articles and summarises news across politics, sports, tech, and other areas within 60 words. The startup also launched an app, Public, in 2020, which is a location-based social network to record and share videos. 

Backed by the likes of Vy Capital, Tiger Global, Tanglin Venture Partners, SIG Venture Capital, and A91 Partners, the news aggregator platform has raised more than $100 Mn in funding to date. It competes with Ver Se Innovation’s DailyHunt.

Inshorts’ net loss reportedly jumped 33% to INR 310 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) from INR 232 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Revenue from operations rose a mere 9% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 181 Cr during the year under review. 

Iqubal’s elevation comes a couple of months after he made his debut as a judge on the third season of the popular TV show Shark Tank India. 

The development comes amid a wave of top-level rejigs at Indian startups. Earlier this week, community and security management startup MyGate’s cofounder and COO Abhishek Kumar was elevated to the position of CEO, while incumbent CEO and cofounder Vijay Arisetty was promoted to the chairman of the company’s board. 

At men’s grooming brand Beardo, CEO Sujot Malhotra reportedly went on a year-long sabbatical while at least two other top executives, who initially helmed the ship at the startup, exited in the past three months.