Startups like Dunzo and Dealshare have seen their cofounders leave, while top executives like Byju’s chief technology officer Anil Goel, chief business officer Prathyusha Agarwal, and Flipkart head of new business Adarsh Menon are among the top “free” executives, data from search firm Longhouse Consulting shows.
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ET had reported last week that SoftBank India operating partner Vikas Agnihotri has also moved on from his role at the investment fund.
In partnership with Longhouse Consulting, ETtech has put together a list of founders and high-profile executives who are yet to announce their newest assignments, as the curtains come down on another tough year for Indian startups.
ETtechCofounders call it a day
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As Reliance Retail-backed Dunzo struggled to keep the lights on in 2023, its cofounder Dalvir Suri called it quits at the cash-strapped instant delivery startup, ending his six-year-long association with the Bengaluru-based company.
ET had reported on October 2 about the exit of Suri, who was involved in the company’s business-to-business delivery arm, Dunzo Merchant Services–a core business vertical.
While Dunzo continues to struggle, another company in the ecommerce space—Dealshare–saw two of its four founders call it quits.
Dealshare cofounders Vineet Rao and Sankar Bora, who were also the chief executive and chief operating officer, respectively, left the company in November after the company cut multiple jobs and shut down its business-to-business (B2B) vertical.
In September, milk and grocery delivery startup Milkbasket, which was acquired by Reliance Retail in 2021, saw Yatish Talvadia–its only cofounder left in the organisation–move out.
ETtechOther senior-level exits
This year, companies including edtech major Byju’s and hospitality company Oyo continued to see top-level exits.
Byju’s, which has been busy dousing fire from lenders and investors alike, saw its group chief technology officer Anil Goel and chief business officer Prathyusha Agarwal call it a day.
Goel and Agarwal have not announced their next move.
Even Oyo this year saw its chief executive for the India business, Ankit Gupta, and chief executive for Europe, Mandar Vaidya, move on after spending little over four years with the hospitality unicorn. Oyo has been eying a listing on the bourses next year.
Flipkart and Myntra are among the bigger firms where exits happened this year. Flipkart saw its head for new businesses, Adarsh Menon, leave, while Myntra saw the exit of its private label head, Manohar Kamath.
While newer names were added to the list, this year there are still some—like former WhatsApp India head Abhijit Bose, and Flipkart Commerce general counsel Saroj Panigrahi—who continue to be “free” agents in 2023.
As business restructuring in the Indian startup sector continued amid the funding downturn, more than 28,000 employees of new-age companies saw their jobs go in the first three quarters of 2023.