The ongoing funding winter has brought about a significant transformation in the country’s startup ecosystem. The scarcity of capital compelled new-age tech companies to shift their focus from pursuing growth at any cost to achieving profitability. This also meant cutting down the cash burn, which resulted in companies taking aggressive cost-cutting measures, including pay cuts and layoffs.
According to Inc42’s layoff tracker, Indian startups have laid off more than 29,000 employees since the onset of the funding winter in 2022.
While these drastic measures helped some startups turn profitable or reduce their losses, most of the startups still continue to be saddled with losses. As per Inc42’s ‘FY23 Financial Tracker’, 39 of the 54 new age Indian tech companies that have filed their financial statements for the year reported a combined loss of INR 25,905.21 Cr.
Amid all these, it’s natural for one to ask that if the employees are losing their jobs and taking pay cuts, have the founders of the new-age tech companies also seen a decrease in their remunerations? To answer this question and keep our readers up to date with the remunerations earned by the founders, Inc42 has launched the ‘Founder Salaries FY23 Tracker’.
The tracker will keep you informed about the remunerations earned by the founders in FY23, the percentage increase/decrease in their salaries compared to FY22, and more.
Editor’s Note: This list is not a ranking of any kind, we have placed companies alphabetically. This is a running list and will be updated periodically.
Founder Remuneration Tracker FY23
Companies are placed in alphabetical order | Data has been sourced from MCA filings, annual reports, and DRHPs | The remuneration Includes salary, wages, & bonus
Company
Founder Name
Desgination
Annual Remuneration FY23
Annual Remuneration FY22
Operating Revenue FY23
Loss/Profit FY23
Delhivery
Sahil Barua
Managing Director & CEO
₹ 3.1 Cr
₹ 2.88 Cr
₹ 7225.3 Cr
₹ -1007.7 Cr
Kapil Bharati
Executive Director & CTO
₹ 3 Cr
₹ 2.42 Cr
₹ 7225.3 Cr
₹ -1007.7 Cr
Droneacharya
Prateek Srivastava
Founder, Managing Director
₹ 0.9 Cr
₹ 0.8 Cr
₹ 18.5 Cr
₹ 3.4 Cr
EaseMyTrip
Nishant Pitti
Cofounder, CEO
₹ 0.96 Cr
₹ 0.96 Cr
₹ 448.8 Cr
₹ 134.1 Cr
Prashant Pitti
Cofounder
₹ 0.96 Cr
₹ 0.96 Cr
₹ 448.8 Cr
₹ 134.1 Cr
Rikant Pittie
Cofounder
₹ 0.96 Cr
₹ 0.96 Cr
₹ 448.8 Cr
₹ 134.1 Cr
Ideaforge
Ankit Mehta*
Cofounder, CEO
₹ 1.24 Cr
₹ 0.69 Cr
₹ 186 Cr
₹ 31.9 Cr
Ashish Ramesh Bhat*
Cofouner, VP
₹ 1.24 Cr
₹ 0.69 Cr
₹ 186 Cr
₹ 31.9 Cr
Rahul Singh*
Cofounder, VP, Engg
₹ 1.24 Cr
₹ 0.69 Cr
₹ 186 Cr
₹ 31.9 Cr
IndiaMart
Dinesh Agarwal
Founder
₹ 3.8 Cr
₹ 3.45 Cr
₹ 985.3 Cr
₹ 283.8 Cr
Brijesh Agrawal
Founder
₹ 2.75 Cr
₹ 2.49 Cr
₹ 985.3 Cr
₹ 283.8 Cr
LEAD
Sumeet Mehta
Cofounder, CEO
₹ 1 Cr
₹ 1.59 Cr
₹ 273.1 Cr
₹ -321.9 Cr
Smita Deorah
Cofounder, Co-CEO
₹ 1 Cr
₹ 1.59 Cr
₹ 273.1 Cr
₹ -321.9 Cr
Licious
Abhay Hanjura
Cofounder
₹ 1.3 Cr
₹ 2.35 Cr
₹ 747.7 Cr
₹ -528.5 Cr
Vivek Gupta
Cofounder
₹ 2.14 Cr
₹ 2.22 Cr
₹ 747.7 Cr
₹ -528.5 Cr
Mamaearth
Varun Alagh
Cofounder, CEO
₹ 1.49 Cr
₹ 1.13 Cr
₹ 1492.7 Cr
₹ -150.9 Cr
Gazal Alagh
Cofounder
₹ 0.9 Cr
₹ 0.74 Cr
₹ 1492.7 Cr
₹ -150.9 Cr
MapMyIndia
Rakesh Verma
Founder, Chairman
₹ 1.5 Cr
₹ 1.5 Cr
₹ 281.4 Cr
₹ 107.5 Cr
Rohan Verma
CEO
₹ 1.5 Cr
₹ 1.5 Cr
₹ 281.4 Cr
₹ 107.5 Cr
Moglix
Rahul Garg
CEO
₹ 2 Cr
₹ 2.18 Cr
₹ 4675 Cr
₹ -196.6 Cr
Nazara Games
Nitish Mittersain
CEO
₹ 4 Cr
₹ 3.3 Cr
₹ 1091 Cr
₹ 61.4 Cr
Nykaa
Falguni Nayar
Founder, CEO
₹ 1.15 Cr
₹ 2 Cr
₹ 5143.8 Cr
₹ 20.9 Cr
OneCard
Vibhav Hathi
Cofounder
₹ 1.5 Cr
₹ 0.7 Cr
₹ 541 Cr
₹ -405.6 Cr
Anurag Sinha
Cofounder, CEO
₹ 1.5 Cr
₹ 0.7 Cr
₹ 541 Cr
₹ -405.6 Cr
Rupesh Kumar
Cofounder
₹ 1.5 Cr
₹ 0.7 Cr
₹ 541 Cr
₹ -405.6 Cr
Paytm
Vijay Shekhar Sharma
Founder
₹ 4 Cr
₹ 3.7 Cr
₹ 7990.3 Cr
₹ -1776.5 Cr
PB Fintech
Alok Bansal
Cofounder
₹ 1.08 Cr
₹ 1.7 Cr
₹ 2557.8 Cr
₹ -487.9 Cr
RateGain
Bhanu Chopra
Founder
₹ 3 Cr
₹ 3 Cr
₹ 565.1 Cr
₹ 68.4 Cr
Xpressbees
Amitava Saha
Cofounder, CEO
₹ 2.24 Cr
₹ 2.24 Cr
₹ 2531 Cr
₹ -180.4 Cr
Zaggle
Raj Narayanam
Executive Chairman
₹ 1.02 Cr
₹ 1.02 Cr
₹ 553.4 Cr
₹ 22.9 Cr
Avinash Godkhindi
CEO
₹ 0.82 Cr
₹ 0.7 Cr
₹ 553.4 Cr
₹ 22.9 Cr
Nitish Mittersain | Nazara Technologies
Nitish Mittersain, CEO and cofounder of publicly listed Nazara Technologies, was one of the highest-paid founders in the year under review. Mittersain took home INR 4 Cr as remuneration in FY23. His remuneration increased 21% from INR 3.3 Cr he earned in the previous fiscal year.
Meanwhile, the Mumbai-based company reported an operating revenue of INR 1,091 Cr in FY23, a jump of 75% from INR 621.7 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Net profit rose 21% to INR 61.4 Cr from INR 50.7 Cr in FY22.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma | Paytm
Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the founder of Paytm and the poster boy of the Indian fintech sector, took home INR 4 Cr as remuneration in FY23. Sharma’s annual remuneration increased 8% from INR 3.7 Cr in FY22.
On the other hand, Paytm reported a 1.6X jump in operating revenue to INR 7,990.3 in FY23 from INR 4,974.2 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Net loss reduced 26% to INR 1,766.5 Cr in FY23 from INR 2,396.4 Cr in the previous fiscal year.
Dinesh Agarwal | IndiaMART
Dinesh Agarwal, the founder of publicly listed B2B ecommerce marketplace IndiaMART, took home the second highest salary in FY23. Agarwal, who founded IndiaMART in 1999, took home INR 3.8 Cr in salary, an increase of 11.8% from INR 3.4 in the previous year.
The company reported an operating revenue of INR 985.3 Cr in FY23, an increase of 31% from INR 753.4 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Profit, however, dipped around 5% to INR 283.8 Cr from INR 298 Cr in FY22.
Sahil Barua & Kapil Bharati | Delhivery
Sahil Barua, the cofounder and CEO of Delhivery, was fourth on the list with an annual remuneration of INR 3.1 Cr in FY23. This was a 11% increase from INR 2.88 Cr that he took home in the previous fiscal year.
Kapil Bharati, the CTO of Delhivery, was fifth on the list with a remuneration of INR 3 Cr in FY23, an increase of 24% from INR 2.42 Cr in FY22.
Meanwhile, Delhivery reported a 5% jump in operating revenue to INR 7,225.3 Cr in FY23 from INR 6,882.2 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Loss was almost flat at INR 1,007.7 Cr in FY23 as against INR 1,011 Cr in FY22.
Bhanu Chopra | RateGain
Bhanu Chopra, the cofounder of RateGain, took home INR 3 Cr as an annual compensation in FY23. While his remuneration was unchanged from FY22, Pratap also received bonus and incentives worth INR 3.1 Cr in FY23. His bonus and incentives stood at INR 3 Cr in FY22.
The traveltech SaaS startup reported a whopping 714% jump in its net profit to INR 68.4 Cr in FY23 from INR 8.4 Cr in the previous fiscal year. The Delhi NCR-based company saw its revenue from operations jump over 54% to INR 565 Cr from INR 366 Cr in FY22.
The post Founder Salaries Tracker FY23: Amid The Funding Winter, How Much Did Startup Founders Earn? appeared first on Inc42 Media.
