SUMMARY
The year so far has seen more than 30 CXO, including founders, switch their tracks to join other companies, float new ventures or assume new roles within existing companies
While many stepped down under mysterious circumstances or took an exit after their ventures were acquired or for various other reasons, the zeal of Indian founders to start afresh cannot be ignored
According to industry experts, investors tend to have more confidence in second and third-time founders, making them preferred choices for investment.
It has been a year of oxymorons for the Indian startup land and its incumbent. While the year was mostly bogged down in the extended wave of an unforgiving funding dry spell (aka the infamous funding winter), it also saw a spring of Indian founders rolling out their second or even third ventures.
It is imperative to mention that the year so far has seen more than 30 CXOs, including founders, switch their tracks to join other companies, float new ventures or assume new roles within existing companies.
While many stepped down under mysterious circumstances or took an exit after their ventures were acquired or for various other reasons, the zeal of Indian founders to start afresh cannot be ignored.
Interestingly, the trend of entrepreneurs not sticking to one particular venture in the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem is not new but became more evident with examples like Ola cofounder Ankit Bhati quitting the ride-hailing giant to focus on his SaaS venture Amnic.
The past few years have also seen eminent entrepreneurs like Kunal Shah (Freecharge to CRED), Jitendra Gupta (Citrus Pay to Jupiter), Anant Goel (Milkbasket to Sorted), et al. raise funds to start their new ventures.
However, one may ask if this trend is having any particular impact on the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem, especially investors.
According to industry experts, investors tend to have more confidence in second and third-time founders, making them preferred choices for investment. And there is a simple explanation for this — such entrepreneurs are already well-versed in the industry cycles and the rules of the game.
As far as the realm of the Indian startup ecosystem is concerned, such founders are more likely to succeed, without relying much on vanity metrics like valuations, and mentor new breeds of entrepreneurs entering the domain.
As we inch towards embracing new hopes for the Indian startup ecosystem with the year 2024 in sight, let’s steal a glance at some of these founders who started up again.
8 Founders Who Started Up Again In 2023
Dineout’s Cofounder Vivek Kapoor Marked His Healthtech Foray
This year, Dineout cofounder Vivek Kapoor left Swiggy to join Delhi-based healthcare financing startup AyushPay as its cofounder and chief business officer.
The transition was also triggered by his desire to make a meaningful contribution to the Indian healthtech sector. Notably, he was AyushPay’s angel investor for a considerable period and had actively mentored the AyushPay team.
AyushPay (formerly known as DoctCo), a healthcare solutions provider, announced his appointment in July.
Founded in 2021 by Nimith Aggarwal and Col Hemraj, AyushPay provides financing and payment solutions to patients to make healthcare accessible and affordable.
Kapoor became part of Swiggy’s leadership team after Dineout’s acquisition by Times Internet last year at a valuation of $150 Mn-$200 Mn.
Anshuman Kumar Left Teachmint For The Love Of His Dating App
In a bid to focus on his new venture Duolop, a dating and relationship management app, Teachmint’s cofounder and CTO Anshuman Kumar quit the edtech startup in March.
“I am stepping into a new role as the founder of Duolop, a dynamic and innovative Indian app revolutionising how couples connect and grow together,” Kumar announced about his exit in a LinkedIn post.
Duolop is an app for couples, both married and unmarried, which aims to simplify the complexities of managing a relationship. It offers a private chat feature where couples can send messages, images and videos to each other and help them plan dates.
The app has already been launched on the Google Play and Apple Stores.
Founded in 2020 by Kumar, Mihir Gupta, Payoj Jain and Divyansh Bordia, Teachmint helps teachers and schools digitise their classrooms. The startup counts Lightspeed India, Rocketship.vc and Better Capital as among its marquee investors.
In November 2022, Teachmint laid off 45 employees or around 5% of its workforce. The startup’s net loss skyrocketed 24X to INR 131.70 Cr in FY22 from INR 5.52 Cr in FY21, while its operating revenue stood at INR 77.45 Lakh.
Zolostay’s Akhil Sikri Set Sail For A New Expedition
Akhil Sikri, cofounder of Zolostays, stepped away from his operational role at the coliving startup to pursue his new entrepreneurial venture.
In August, Sikri, along with his fellow directors Ketan Kapoor and Ayon Dutta, floated Quick Response Financial Technologies Pvt.
The Bengaluru-based Quick Response engages in activities encompassing computer programming, consultancy and related services.
As per Sikri’s LinkedIn profile, he transitioned out of his active role at Zolostays in March. However, he continued to retain his position on the company’s board. His LinkedIn bio lists him as the cofounder of an upcoming, unnamed project.
Launched in 2015 by Sikri, along with Isha Choudhry, Nikhil Sikri and Sneha Choudhry, Zolostays offers affordable paying guest accommodations, service apartments and independent flats to students and working professionals via its AI-powered app.
The startup competes with the likes of Isthara and Stanza Living, among others.
On A New Adventure, GoMechanic’s Cofounders Deny To Throw In The Towel
Automobile after-sale services startup GoMechanic’s cofounders Rishabh Karwa and Nitin Rana stepped down from their roles after admitting to financial misreporting.
The story began in January this year, when GoMechanic cofounder Amit Bhasin, who continues to be associated with the startup as per his LinkedIn profile, admitted to committing “errors in judgement” regarding financial reporting while trying to pursue growth.
While the dust is far from settled on the GoMechanic front, Karwa and Rana joined the list of founders starting up again.
Both of them are now working on two separate and unnamed new startups.
Not much details are known about Rana’s new startup, except that his latest venture focusses on “Building Travel & Hospitality Product for Indian Subcontinent and World”.
However, Karwa has been quite vocal about starting anew, posting about the journey of building a new product and startup. His social media posts about Figma plugins and projects indicate some degree of progress. As per his LinkedIn profile, he is “building for local businesses”.
Both Karwa and Rana have not publicly announced raising any funds for their new startups till now. Now, it remains to be seen if the controversies around GoMechanic change anything for their new ventures.
Polygon’s Cofounder Is Now The Captain Of Two New Ventures
In October, Polygon cofounder Jaynti Kanani resigned from his position at the blockchain scaling platform to focus on his new opportunities.
As per Kanani’s LinkedIn profile, he has cofounded two new startups – Mozak and Morphic.
While Morphic is developing a platform designed to assist creators, filmmakers, and animators in producing high-quality content using AI technology, not many details are available for Mozak except that it is a Web3 platform.
“After kickstarting Polygon in 2017, around six months back, I decided to step back from the day-to-day grind,” Kanani said in a post on X while announcing his decision to quit.
His LinkedIn profile shows that he served as the cofounder of Polygon until March 2023.
Kanani is said to have stepped down from Polygon around the same time when the company undertook mass layoffs earlier this year. In February, the blockchain scalability platform culled 20% of its workforce as part of a restructuring exercise amid the ongoing crypto winter.
ShareChat’s Cofounders Quit To Incorporate A Robotics Startup
After quitting their first venture ShareChat in January, cofounders Bhanu Pratap Singh and Farid Ahsan established their second venture, General Autonomy, in May this year.
In November, the cofounders raised $3 Mn in seed funding from venture capital firms India Quotient and Elevation Capital for the robotics startup, General Autonomy.
Before leaving ShareChat, Singh also served as its CTO, while Ahsan held the COO’s role. The third ShareChat founder, Ankush Sachdeva, continues to be the CEO of the social media unicorn.
The cofounders’ exit coincided with ShareChat’s parent firm, Mohalla Tech, laying off 20% of its workforce or 500 individuals earlier in the year.
Founded in 2015, parent Mohalla Tech positions ShareChat as an Indic language social media platform. In 2022, it acquired Times Internet-owned social short-video platform MX TakaTak for over $600 Mn to foray into the competing short-video social space.
Mohalla Tech’s loss jumped 38.17% year-on-year to INR 4,064.31 Cr in FY23, while operating revenue grew 62% to INR 540.21 Cr.
