Founder Salaries Tracker FY25: How Much Did Startup Founders Earn?

While billion-dollar valuations of startups often grab headlines, the remunerations of founders who lead the ship mostly go unnoticed. Amid the funding winter and the focus on bottom lines over the last two years, Inc42 launched the founders’ salary tracker for FY23 and FY24 to see how the salaries of founders of startups and new-age tech companies were changing.

Continuing with this, we are launching the ‘FY25 Founder Salaries Tracker’ to keep a hawk eye on the payouts of founders and the financial health of the new-age tech ecosystem. Amid the ongoing new-age tech IPO boom and the continuing profitability push, it is more critical than ever to understand the incentives that drive the key decision-makers.

According to Inc42 data, 40 founders of 23 new-age tech companies earned INR 227.17 Cr in cumulative remuneration in FY25, translating to an average of INR 5.7 Cr. This is 15.6% above FY24’s INR 4.93 Cr. However, the average declines to INR 1.3 Cr in FY25 if only fixed pay is taken into consideration.

But, fixed pay doesn’t tell the full story. Founders sometimes earn a significant amount from ESOP encashments and performance-linked payouts, which significantly increase take-home salaries.

At the top of the charts is FirstCry’s Supam Maheshwari, who combined INR 4.9 Cr salary with a staggering INR 53.8 Cr ESOP gain, underscoring how stock options, not salaries, remain the biggest wealth creators for founders.

Others followed a similar path. Delhivery’s Sahil Barua drew INR 2.8 Cr in fixed pay but unlocked INR 26.5 Cr through ESOPs, while cofounder Kapil Bharati realised INR 15.2 Cr.

At Ola Electric, Bhavish Aggarwal more than doubled his fixed salary to INR 6.5 Cr — up 124% from FY24, even as the EV maker posted a INR 2,276 Cr loss.

Meanwhile, Deepinder Goyal of Eternal stuck to his zero-salary stance despite the company turning profitable with INR 527 Cr in PAT, while Falguni Nayar of Nykaa kept her pay modest at INR 78 Lakh. However, this does not include the millions of ESOPs that the two are sitting on and may have liquidated over the years.

Meanwhile, Fractal Analytics, which is going for an IPO soon, saw its founders Srikanth Velamakanni and Pranay Agrawal draw salaries of INR 9.4 Cr and INR 10.4 Cr each, respectively.

To keep you up-to-date with the salaries drawn by the founders of startups and new-age tech companies, we’ll keep updating this tracker. For now, here’s a detailed look at the remuneration of the founders.

Company Name	Founders	Fixed Pay (FY25)	Other Perks	Fixed Pay (FY24)	YoY Change	FY25 Operating Revenue	FY25 Profit/Loss
Fractal Analytics	Srikanth Velamakanni	INR 9.4 Cr	INR 6.7 Cr	40.30%	INR 2,765.4 Cr	INR 220.6 Cr
Pranay Agrawal	INR 10.4 Cr	NA*	-%
Ola Electric	Bhavish Aggarwal	INR 6.5 Cr	INR 2.9 Cr	124.10%	INR 4,645 Cr	-INR 2,276 Cr
IndiaMart	Dinesh Agarwal	INR 5.5 Cr	INR 1.9 Cr (Performance Pay)	INR 5 Cr	10%	INR 1,388 Cr	INR 664 Cr
Brijesh Agarwal	INR 4 Cr	INR 1.4 Cr (Performance Pay)	INR 3.5 Cr	14.20%
Paytm	Vijay Shekhar Sharma	INR 4 Cr	INR 4.4 Cr	9%	INR 6,900 Cr	-INR 663 Cr
Delhivery	Sahil Baura	INR 2.8 Cr	INR 26.5 Cr (ESOP Gains)	INR 2.9 Cr	-3.40%	INR 8,932 Cr	INR 162 Cr
Kapil Bharati	INR 2.8 Cr	INR 15.2 Cr (ESOP Gains)	INR 3.1 Cr	-9.60%
Digit Insurance	Jasleen Kohli	INR 3.3 Cr	INR 3.5 Cr	-5.70%	INR 424 Cr
Eternal (Zomato )	Deepinder Goyal	INR 0	INR 0	0%	INR 20,243 Cr	INR 527 Cr
Mobikwik	Bipin Preet Singh	INR 2.7 Cr	INR 2.3 Cr	17.39%	INR 1,170.2 Cr	-INR 121.53 Cr
Upasana Taku	INR 2.7 Cr	INR 2.3 Cr	17.39%
Ideaforge	Ankit Mehta	INR 1.5 Cr	INR 2 Cr	-25%	INR 182.4 Cr	INR 62.3 Cr
Ashish Ramesh Bhat	INR 1.5 Cr	INR 2.1 Cr	-28.50%
Rahul Singh	INR 1.5Cr	INR 2.1 Cr	-28.50%
Lenskart	Peyush Bansal	INR 5.8 Cr	INR 3.7 Cr	57%	INR 6,652.5 Cr	INR 297.3 Cr
Neha Bansal	INR 2.3 Cr	INR 1.2 Cr	91.60%
Info Edge	Sanjeev Bikhchandani	INR 2.5 Cr	INR 1.6 Cr	56.20%	INR 2,849 Cr	INR 1,310 Cr
Hitesh Oberoi	INR 2.4	INR 1.5 Cr	60%
Nykaa	Falguni Nayar	INR 78 Lakh	INR 66 Lakh	18.20%	INR 7,950 Cr	INR 72 Cr
Paytm	Vijay Shekhar Sharma	INR 4 Cr	INR 4.4 Cr	9%	INR 6,900 Cr	-INR 663 Cr
Swiggy	Sriharsha Majety	INR 1.6 Cr	INR 15,227 Cr	-INR 3,117 Cr
Kissht	Krishnan Vishwanathan	INR 1.5 Cr	INR 1.5 Cr	0%	INR 1,337.47 Cr	INR 160.62 Cr
Ranvir Singh	INR 1.5 Cr	INR 1.5 Cr	0%
PhysicsWallah	Alakh Pandey	INR 3.2 Cr	INR 5.5 Cr	-41.80%	INR 2,886.6 Cr	-INR 243 Cr
Prateek Boob	INR 1.3 Cr	INR 1.8 Cr	-27.00%
Urban Company	Abhiraj Singh Bhal	INR 1.5 Cr	INR 1.3 Cr	38.40%	INR 1,144 Cr	INR 240 Cr
Raghav Chandra	INR 1.5 Cr	INR 1.3 Cr	38.40%
Varun Khaitan	INR 1.5 Cr	INR 1.3 Cr	38.40%
FirstCry	Supam Maheshwari	INR 4.9 Cr	INR 53.8 Cr (ESOP Gains)	INR 3.6 Cr	36.10%	INR 7,660 Cr	-INR 264.8 Cr
BlackBuck	Sanket Hattimattur	INR 2.9 Cr	INR 2 Cr	45.00%	INR 426.7 Cr	-INR 8.6 Cr
Chanakya Hridaya	INR 2 Cr	INR 1.9 Cr	5.20%
Ramasubramanian B.	INR 99 Lakh	INR 2 Cr	-50.50%
Honasa	Varun Alagh	INR 3 Cr	INR 3.97 Cr	-24.40%	INR 2,066.9 Cr	INR 72.6 Cr
Ghazal Alagh	INR 1.6 Cr	INR 1.97 Cr	-18.80%
Ather Energy	Tarun Mehta	INR 2.8 Cr	INR 2.2 Cr	27.20%	INR 2,255 Cr	-INR 812.3 Cr
Swapnil Jain	INR 2.8 Cr	INR 2.2 Cr	27.20%
TBO Tek	Ankush Nijhawan	INR 7.3 Cr	INR 7.4	-1.35%	INR 1,737.5 Cr	INR 229.9 Cr
Gaurav Bhatnagar	INR 4.5 Cr	INR 4.8	-6.25%
RateGain	Bhanu Chopra	INR 3.7	INR 1.9 Cr (Performance)	INR 5.8 Cr	-36.20%	INR INR 1,076.6 Cr	INR 208.9 Cr

Alakh Pandey | PhysicsWallah

PhysicsWallah cofounder and CEO Alakh Pandey took home a fixed pay of INR 3.2 Cr in FY25, down 41.8% from INR 5.5 Cr in FY24.

Cofounder Prateek Boob also saw a 27% cut in his compensation to INR 1.3 Cr from INR 1.8 Cr in FY24.

The edtech unicorn posted a net loss of INR 243 Cr in FY25 on a revenue of INR INR 2,886.6 Cr.

Supam Maheshwari | FirstCry

FirstCry founder and CEO Supam Maheshwari’s fixed pay rose 36% YoY to INR 4.9 Cr in FY25 from INR 3.6 Cr in FY24. He also booked ESOP gains worth INR 53.8 Cr during the year.

Notably, in FY24 Maheshwari earned about INR 100 Cr in just ESOP gains– highest among the founders.

Meanwhile, the company continued to be in red with a net loss of INR 264.8 Cr and an operating revenue of INR 7,660 Cr in FY25.

Peyush Bansal | Lenskart

Lenskart cofounder and CEO Peyush Bansal saw a 57% jump in his fixed pay in FY25 to INR 5.8 Cr from INR 3.7 Cr in FY24.

His sister and cofounder, Neha Bansal, also saw her compensation nearly double to INR 2.3 Cr.

The IPO-bound company posted a revenue of INR 6,652.5 Cr in FY25, It also turned profitable, reporting a net profit of INR 297.3 Cr as against a net loss of about INR 10 Cr in FY24.

Srikanth Velamakanni | Fractal Analytics

Srikanth Velamakanni, cofounder and group CEO of Fractal Analytics, was among the highest-paid founders in FY25.

His fixed pay rose 40% YoY to INR 9.4 Cr from INR 6.7 Cr in FY24, as the AI and analytics company gears up for its IPO.

Fractal reported an operating revenue of INR 2,765.4 Cr and a net profit of INR 220.6 Cr in FY25.

Alongside Velamakanni, cofounder Pranay Agrawal also earned INR 10.4 Cr in the fiscal year under review.

Sahil Barua | Delhivery

Delhivery cofounder and CEO Sahil Barua’s fixed pay stood at INR 2.8 Cr in FY25, down 3.4% from INR 2.9 Cr in FY24.

However, the logistics unicorn’s filings revealed that Barua exercised ESOPs worth INR 26.5 Cr during the year.

Meanwhile, Delhivery posted a net profit of INR 162 Cr in FY25 on an operating revenue of INR 8,932 Cr, a sharp turnaround from the net loss of INR 249.2 Cr in FY24.

Bhavish Aggarwal | Ola Electric

Ola Electric CEO Bhavish Aggarwal’s fixed pay surged to INR 6.5 Cr in FY25, a steep 124% increase from INR 2.9 Cr the previous year. The hike came amid significant turbulence at the company.

The EV maker posted a hefty loss of INR 2,276 Cr in FY25 on an operating revenue of INR 4,645 Cr. Ola Electric also undertook at least two rounds of layoffs in FY25, which impacted more than 1,000 employees.

Vijay Shekhar Sharma | Paytm

Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma took home a fixed pay of INR 4 Cr in FY25, a decline of 9% from INR 4.4 Cr in FY24.

Notably, the fintech company had a rough start to FY25 after being hit by the RBI’s action on Paytm Payments Bank. During FY25, the company sold its entertainment ticketing business to Zomato (now Eternal) with an aim to focus on its core payments business.

While Paytm reported a 54% YoY decline in its loss to INR 663.2 Cr in FY25, it managed to turn profitable in the first quarter of FY26.

Sriharsha Majety | Swiggy

Sriharsha Majety, cofounder and CEO of Swiggy, drew a fixed salary of INR 1.6 Cr in FY25. During the year, he oversaw the foodtech major’s IPO. Shares of Swiggy listed on the boursesin November 2024.

Operationally, the company saw its revenue jump in FY25 on the back of strong growth in its quick commerce vertical Instamart. However, the expansion of Instamart also inflated its expenses, resulting in Swiggy’s net loss rising 33% YoY to INR 3,116.8 Cr in FY25.

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