Social commerce unicorn DealShare announced on Monday that its co-founder and CEO, Vineet Rao, has resigned from his role. The development comes as the startup is transitioning to a hybrid online and offline business model.
Rao to Support Board in Identifying New CEO
In a statement, DealShare mentioned that Rao would assist the board in identifying a new CEO. However, the exact reason behind his resignation was not disclosed. The abrupt departure of Rao without securing a replacement raises questions about the company’s leadership.
DealShare’s Recent Key Appointments
DealShare has made significant appointments in recent months. In July, it appointed Saurabh Kishore, former Tata Cliq CTO, as its CTO. Prior to this, DealShare did not have a CTO, and Rajat Shikhar, the company’s co-founder, handled the CTO responsibilities. Furthermore, in December of last year, the company appointed Kamaldeep Singh, the former Big Bazaar chief executive, as the president of the retail business.
DealShare Past Cost-Cutting Measures
This development comes almost six months after DealShare laid off approximately 100 employees, around 6% of its workforce, to reduce burn rate and achieve profitability. The startup took measures to cut costs by reducing focus on certain initiatives and limiting its geographical operations, including pausing operations in the bottom 20% of the 150 cities it previously operated in.
DealShare Journey to Unicorn Status and Financials
Founded in September 2018 by Sourjyendu Medda, Vineet Rao, Sankar Bora, and Rajat Shikhar, DealShare is a social ecommerce marketplace aimed at enabling first-time internet users to shop online. It became a unicorn in early 2022 after securing $165 million in Series E funding from investors like Dragoneer Investments Group and Unilever Ventures. It later raised an additional $45 million from ADIA, raising its valuation to over $1.7 billion.
Despite its unicorn status, DealShare has faced financial challenges. In FY22, the company posted a significant increase in net losses, reaching INR 431.1 crore from INR 67 crore in FY21. Although operating revenue surged more than 8 times to INR 1,932.8 crore from INR 236.7 crore in FY21, expenses also rose significantly by 679% to INR 2,388 crore from INR 306.4 crore in the previous fiscal year. The startup operates on the social commerce model, a rare approach among ecommerce startups, with many competitors opting to shut down or pivot their business models due to mounting losses.
