20 CEOs at Indian startups quit this year amid regulatory concerns, funding winter

NEW DELHI: Around 20 CEOs of Indian startups have quit their posts this year to date, amid the deepening funding winter and regulatory concerns, a significantly higher number than previous years, the media reported.

Data compiled by Fintrackr showed that in the first eight months this year, nearly 20 startup CEOs have left their position to either join a new firm or continue in the same company in a different role.

In January, edtech company upGrad's CEO Arjun Mohan quit after a nearly three-year stint.

Last month, he joined Byju's to lead its international business.

Prashant Jhaveri, chief executive of Flipkart's online pharmacy Flipkart Health+, also left the firm after serving more than a year at the company, reports entrackr.

Fintech startup Slash and grocery tech startup Milkbasket are yet to announce their new CEOs.

Throttle Aerospace's CEO reportedly stepped down from the company.

In March, DailyRounds' CEO Deepu Sebin and FreeCharge's CEO Siddharth Mehta announced their resignation after serving for several years at the helm.

In May, all three co-founders including CEO of buy now pay later (BNPL) startup ZestMoney resigned.

Some startup founders also quit as CEOs voluntarily or were elevated to a new role.

For example, co-working space provider 91Springboard has replaced its CEO Anand Vemuri with Anshu Sarin, the report mentioned.

Logistics startup Porter promoted its CEO Pranav Goel to executive vice chairman.

Consumer electronic brand boAt, higher education edtech platform DataTrained, and Skincare brand SkinQ also promoted their CEOs to a new role within the company. Some of the startups also saw layoffs.

Cuemath laid off 100 employees and re-appointed Manan Khurma as its CEO. Before Khurma, Vivek Sunder served as CEO for nearly two years at the startup.

Car servicing startup GoMechanic laid off 70 per cent of its workforce as the co-founder Amit Bhasin acknowledged financial lapses.

Following its acquisition by Servizzy, a consortium led by the Lifelong Group, all co-founders including the CEO, have left, said the report.