How Much Did Startup Founders Earn?

As funding winter continued to reign supreme over the Indian startup ecosystem, consolidation remained the central theme in FY24 as well

Inc42 is back with another edition of ‘Founder Salaries Tracker’ to keep you updated with the remuneration earned by the startup founders in FY24

Supam Maheshwari, the founder of recently listed ecommerce marketplace FirstCry, retained the top spot in FY24 as well. He took home INR 103.8 Cr remuneration during the year

A total of 24 founders of 15 Indian new-age tech companies took home INR 176.6 Cr in cumulative annual salary in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24)!

However, the average founder salary plummeted 30.5% to INR 7.5 Cr in FY24 from INR 10.8 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

This comes at a time when the startup ecosystem continues to be in the grip of the funding winter, which began in 2022. As investors tightened the purse strings following the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, there was mayhem in the Indian startup ecosystem, which was riding high on the bull run of 2020 and 2021.

Consider this: The total funding raised by Indian startups fell to $25 Bn in 2022 from $42 Bn a year ago. This number further plummeted to $10 Bn in 2023 and there was no improvement in the first half of 2024 as well.

This acute funding crunch has meant that Indian startups have had to take drastic measures to cut their costs and extend their runways. Following the onset of the funding winter, startups reduced their advertising and marketing budgets to cut losses or turn profitable in FY23. They also resorted to massive restructuring exercises which resulted in thousands of employees losing their jobs. Some of them even shut down operations.

Amid all these, Inc42 launched ‘Founder Salaries Tracker FY23’ to keep you updated with the salaries of the founders at a time when employees were losing jobs and taking pay cuts.

Continuing that, we are bringing to you the tracker for FY24, which was not much different from FY23. Consolidation remained the main theme in FY24 as well, as startups looked to improve their bottom lines even if they had to compromise on growth in their top lines.

As per the data collated by Inc42, the 15 aforementioned startups posted a cumulative operating revenue of INR 36,728 Cr in FY24. Of these, five startups reported a combined loss of INR 3,771 Cr, whereas the remaining reported a total profit of INR 1,136.7 Cr.

For a deep dive into the financial numbers, take a look at Inc42’s ‘FY24 Financials Tracker’.

Now, let’s delve deeper into the salaries that the startup founders earned in the last financial year. The tracker will keep you informed about the remuneration earned by the founders in FY24, the percentage increase/ decrease in their salaries compared to FY23, and more.

Editor’s Note: This list is not a ranking of any kind. The companies have been placed alphabetically. This is a running list and will be updated periodically.

Founder Remuneration Tracker FY24

Companies are placed in alphabetical order | Data has been sourced from MCA filings, annual reports, and DRHPs |

*Note: Includes Share-based payments, reimbursements, bonus, variable pay, among others

Supam Maheshwari | FirstCry

Supam Maheshwari, the founder of recently listed ecommerce marketplace FirstCry, retained the top spot in terms of annual remuneration in FY24 as well. As per the startup’s red herring prospectus, the founder took home INR 103.8 Cr as remuneration in FY24, which was almost 50% lower than INR 200.7 Cr a year ago.

However, it needs to be highlighted that this amount includes short-term employment benefits, share based payments accrual, and excludes provisions for gratuity, compensated absences and other long term employment benefits which have been actuarially determined and the amounts pertaining to the key managerial personnel (KMP) are not material.

FirstCry reported an operating revenue of INR 6,480 Cr, with a loss of INR 321.5 Cr in FY24. 

Amit Gainda | Avanse Finance

Amit Gainda, the managing director and chief executive officer of educational lending provider Avanse Financial Services, was at the second spot in the list with an annual remuneration of INR 15.2 Cr, as per its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP). The DRHP revealed that his annual base salary stood at INR 4.2 Cr during the year under review. In FY23, Gainda received an annual remuneration of INR 4 Cr.

Avanse Financial reported an operating revenue of INR 1,726 Cr and posted a profit of INR 342.4 Cr in FY24. 

Vijay Shekhar Sharma | Paytm

Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the managing director of fintech giant Paytm, was at the third spot with an annual remuneration of INR 4.4 Cr during the year under review. Sharma, who is one of the most active angel investors in the county, saw a 10% hike in his annual remuneration in FY24 compared to INR 4 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Varun Alagh | Mamaearth

Varun Alagh, the CEO of publicly listed beauty care startup Mamaearth, took home INR 3.97 Cr in annual remuneration in the recently concluded financial year. He received a hefty increment of 166.4% compared to INR 1.49 Cr he took home in the previous year. 

In comparison, his wife Ghazal Alagh, who is the cofounder of the startup, took home INR 1.79 Cr in remuneration in FY24, a jump of 80.8% higher than INR 99 Lakh in the previous fiscal year. 

The Delhi NCR-based startup reported an operating revenue of INR 1,919.9 Cr during the year under review with a profit of INR 110.5 Cr. 

Edited By Vinaykumar Rai

Last Updated On Sept 6, 5:00 PM IST