Treebo Cofounder Kadam Jeet Jain Steps Down

Hospitality startup Treebo’s cofounder Kadam Jeet Jain has stepped down from the operations of the company and will take up an advisory role at the startup. He will also continue to act in his capacity as the board member of the hospitality platform.

“It’s the end of an era as I exit my operator role at  @Treebohotels. An exit to me is a cognitive shift rather than a physical one. I now look forward to playing a new role, that of an advisor, board member, and a cheerleader from the sides,” tweeted Jain.

As to what lay next, Jain said that he will take a short break and will then ‘get ready for the next adventure.’

Recounting his experience, Jain thanked all key stakeholders and affirmed that he grew from an engineer to an entrepreneur in his eight-year-long stint at the startup. He also showed gratitude to the startup’s investors for their ‘faith, support, and guidance over the years.’

Jain also lauded his cofounders and other team members, adding that, for now, he just wants to ‘smile, breathe, and go slowly.’

Founded in 2015 by Sidharth Gupta, Kadam Jeet Jain and Rahul Chaudhary, Treebo is a budget hotel chain that operates more than 800 hotels across 120+ cities. It claims to have so far served more than 2 Lakh customers and has had 20,000 hotel rooms at the end of 2022.

The startup has so far $85 Mn in funding from multiple investors and competes directly with hospitality players such as OYO, FabHotels, among others.

An IIT-Roorkee alum, Kadam Jeet Jain previously worked with startups such as travel platform MyGola, which was acquired by MakMyTrip in 2021, and SaaS startup Gupshup. Subsequently, Jain founded the hospitality firm with his batchmates from IIT-Roorkee.

Jain’s departure comes nearly two years after another cofounder Rahul Chaudhary stepped down from the company in 2021. Chaudhary joined venture capital fund Matrix Partners India last month. With Jain’s departure, the startup now has only one original cofounder at the helm of affairs which is Gupta.

The exit comes as things improve for the hospitality chain which has been pummelled by the global pandemic for the past few years. Multiple lockdowns imposed by governments locked people indoors as travel activity came to a grinding halt, which directly impacted Treebo’s financials. Such was the crisis that the Bengaluru-based startup also asked some of its employees to take voluntary retirements back in 2020.

As travel resumes, prospects of hospitality companies such as Treebo have also improved. This was recently visible when the hospitality chain claimed it achieved EBITDA break-even in December last year. Treebo Hotels reported an adjusted EBITDA, adjusted for ESOP expenses, of INR 1.65 Cr against an annualised revenue run rate (ARR) of $82 Mn in the month.