What the founders of Indian startups listed and about earn

Vijay Sanghi of CarTrade, with an annual remuneration of 5.21 Cr INR, made him the highest paid founder

While Ritesh Aggarwal from OYO has a compensation of 1.06 Cr INR, his salary at OYO Singapore, as Global CEO since 2019, has been increased to 4.45 Cr INR.

Vijay Shekhar Sharma, whose Paytm is aiming for the country’s largest IPO valued at INR 18,300, earns INR 4 Cr per year.

The festivities were accompanied by an encouraging season of startup IPO booms. The second half of 2021 has brought good news to the Indian startup ecosystem, and this is not the valuation game. Success is no longer measured by how quickly new neighborhood kids turn into unicorns or how much money they raise from historical VCs.

Of course, India made history even because of this. The country saw the birth of a record 33 unicorns this year and an unprecedented week in April (week two, to be precise) when six companies entered the coveted unicorn club.

But the startups that hit Dalal Street and navigate their IPOs are a whole new phenomenon. The ecosystem is no longer the land of high cash consumption and low exit opportunities that once required many companies to undertake early consolidations or crash sales before reaching their full potential.

The tide turned when restaurant aggregator and food delivery giant Zomato, backed by renowned investors such as Fidelity Group, Tiger Global, Mirae Asset Management, Info Edge and others, filed its initial public offering. . At that time, three other startups applied for SEBI’s approval for their IPOs. And all four have sailed.

Last week, fashion e-commerce platform Nykaa and payment bank Fino went public, while Policybazaar this week. As startups filing their DRHP (draft red herring prospectus) with SEBI provide insight into their IPO offers, their balance sheets, and any legal action taken against them, we are also learning to understand what these founders earn.

Let’s look at how much money the founders of recently listed and soon to be listed startups are making.

Zomato | Goyal of the Deep

Zomato has become one of the household names over the years. The delivery of 24X7 food as well as essential items during the pandemic has allowed it to find a place in most of our smartphones.

The startup filed its DRHP in April for an IPO of INR Cr 8,250 and went public on July 14, 2021.

Deepinder Goyal founded Zomato in 2008, along with Pankaj Chaddah. The company has grown to serve in more than 10,000 cities around the world in the space of 13 years.

Goyal has been appointed CEO and CEO of the company for the next five years until March 23, 2026, with a remuneration of the base salary of INR 3.5 Cr. However, Goyal voluntarily waived his compensation for a period of 36 months from April 1, 2021.

Automobile trade | Vinay Sanghi

The CarTrade online automotive marketplace went public in August of this year. The startup went public to raise 2,000 INR Cr on the public market.

Founded in 2009 by Vinay Sanghi, former CEO of Mahindra First Choice and Rajan Mehra, former Country Director of eBay, CarTrade is a multi-channel Indian automotive marketplace, offering both new and used vehicles to customers through platforms such as CarTrade, Carwale, CarTradeExchange, Shriram Automall, Adroit Auto, Auto Biz and BikeWale.

According to the DRHP, Sanghi wins the INR 5.21 Cr each year, making him the highest paid founder among the founders who have gone public or have filed their DRHP.

MobiKwik | Bipin Preet Singh, Upasana Taku, Chandan Joshi

The Fintech startup MobiKwik filed its HRD in July and is seeking to raise 1,900 Cr INR on the public market. The startup early last month received approval from SEBI for its IPO. The company has also entered the unicorn club after some of its employees have exercised stock option plans (ESOP). The secondary tour was led by former Blackstone India chief Mathew Cyriac.

The startup was founded in 2009 by Bipin Preet Singh and his wife Upasana Taku and they collectively own approximately 34.52% of the company’s capital.

While Singh is the CEO of the company and receives a salary of 4 Cr INR, his wife Taku is the COO of the startup and receives the same salary of 4 Cr INR every year.

Chandan Joshi joined Mobikwik in 2018 and is now CEO of Payments at Mobikwik. His annual remuneration is INR 3 Cr.

Paytm | Vijay Shekhar Sharma

Paytm is another name that has become a household name due to its fast and reliable digital transaction rate. The company filed its DRHP IPO for INR 16,600 Cr, already the largest IPO in the country, to further increase it to INR 18,300 Cr.

The startup is expected to hit the public market after Diwali at a price range fixed at 2,080-2,150 per share.

According to a MCA repository consulted by Inc42, Sharma’s compensation for fiscal years 21 and 22 was 4 Cr INR, including payments for lease, rent and accommodation. In fiscal year 2020, he won INR 3 Cr along with stipends and other bonuses.

Nykaa | Falguni Nayar

Mumbai-based fashion e-commerce platform Nykaa went public on October 28 in the price range of INR 1,085 to INR 1,125. The startup intends to raise funds in the range of 4,554.03 Cr INR to 5,351.92 Cr INR on the public market.

What is interesting to note is that Nykaa is the only startup to go public where the promoters hold more than 51% of the capital of the company.

Former banker, Falguni Nayar founded Nykaa in 2012 and currently receives a fixed remuneration of INR 5 Cr annually.

Ixigo | Aloke Bajpai, Rajnish Kumar

Ixigo is an online travel portal that offers airline, bus, train, and hotel rates listed company-wide. Travenues Technologies, which operates ixigo, filed its DRHP with the market regulator SEBI in August to raise INR 1,600 Cr on the public market.

Ixigo is one of the few profitable startups to go public. The startup was founded in 2007 by Aloke Bajpai and Rajnish Kumar and is supported by Elevation Capital, Sequoia Capital, GIC among others.

Bajpai who is the president, CEO of ixigo and Kumar who is the co-founder, non-executive director and CPTO group of ixigo has a annual remuneration of INR 1.2 Cr each.

Political bazaar | Yashish Dahiya, Alok Bansal, Naveen Kukreja

PB Fintech, which operates the online insurance platform Policybazaar and online loan aggregator Paisabaazar, went public this week (November 1) at a price range of INR 940-980. The offer of 3.45.12.186 shares was subscribed 16.59 times, offers thus being placed for 57.23.84.100 shares. The bid attracted bids with a total value of nearly US $ 7.53 billion (INR 56,093.64 Cr).

According to HRD, Yashish Dahiya, Co-Founder and CEO of Policybazaar Group has an annual compensation of 2.01 Cr INR, while Alok Bansal, Co-Founder and CFO of Policybazaar earns 1.56 Cr INR per year. Naveen Kukreja, co-founder and CFO of Paisabazaar, has an annual salary of INR 1.22 Cr.

OYO | Ritesh Agarwal

Hospitality unicorn OYO filed its prospectus with the market regulator in October and plans to raise 8,430 Cr INR on the public market. OYO Red Herring Draft Flyer (DRHP) stated that the startup will issue new shares worth INR Cr 7,000 and a sell offer – the offloading of shares through the sale of shares of existing investors – worth INR Cr 1,430.

Founded by Ritesh Agarwal, one of the youngest founders of the startup ecosystem, the startup is backed by renowned investors such as Softbank, Microsoft, Airbnb, Lightspeed Ventures, among others.

According to the terms of his employment, Agarwal is entitled to gross remuneration including the benefits of Oravel Stays is INR 1.06 Cr.

In addition, from January 2021 his salary at OYO Singapore, as Global CEO since 2019, has been increased to INR 4.45 Cr, bringing his annual compensation to INR 5.51 Cr.