Pepperfry co-founder Ambareesh Murty dies
Murty was a bike enthusiast and used to go on motorcycle trips from Mumbai to Leh.
NEW DELHI: Ambareesh Murty, the co-founder and CEO of Pepperfry, died of a cardiac arrest in Leh, the online marketplace for furniture and home decor’s another co-founder said.
He was 51. “Extremely devastated to inform that my friend, mentor, brother, soulmate @AmbareeshMurty is no more. Lost him yesterday night to a cardiac arrest at Leh. Please pray for him and for strength to his family and near ones,” Ashish Shah said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Murty was a bike enthusiast and used to go on motorcycle trips from Mumbai to Leh. He had posted photos and videos from his trip to Ladakh on Instagram.
He founded Pepperfry in 2011 after stints with Cadbury, ICICI AMC (now ICICI Prudential) and Levi’s.
Pepperfry, which counts Goldman Sachs, Fevicol-maker Pidilite Ventures and Bertelsmann India Investments among its investors, is worth $500 million.
Tributes poured in with people posting their fond memories with Murty.
“So sad & shocking to hear of Ambareesh Murty’s sudden demise due to cardiac arrest. May his soul rest in peace. An amazing entrepreneur & inspiration to many... may his legacy with Pepperfry live on. RIP,” Swati Bhargava, co-founder of CashKaro.com, wrote on X.
Murty’s body is being flown to Mumbai for last rites. After doing engineering at the Delhi College of Engineering in 1994, Murty pursued management studies at IIM Calcutta. He called himself a closet sociopath on his X (formerly Twitter) profile and professed a love for history, reading epic fantasies. Murty joined Cadbury as a sales and marketing professional in June 1996. After a five-and-a-half-year tenure with the chocolate manufacturer, he joined Prudential ICICI AMC (now ICICI Prudential) as VP of Marketing and Customer Service.
After spending nearly two years in the financial sector, he had a brief stint of five months at Levi’s. This was followed by his entrepreneur journey, with its first venture, Origin Resources.
He shuttered the start-up in 2005 and joined Britannia as a marketing manager.
Seven months later, Murty joined eBay India and was the country manager for the Philippines, Malaysia, and India. Six years later, Murty started Pepperfry in June 2011 along with Ashish Shah.
Pepperfry competes with Home Centre, Urban Ladder, Furlenco, Wakefit and others. The Mumbai-based start-up raised its first round of capital in December 2011 from Norwest Venture Partners - a $ 5 million check. It went on to raise $244 million in investment. It raised its last round in November 2021, when General Electric, Mukesh Sharma Family Trust and others infused $10 million in the company.