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 analysis, 17 founders of 10 listed new-age tech companies cumulatively earned about INR 41 Cr in fixed salaries in FY25, translating to an average of INR 2.4 Cr. This is well below FY24’s INR 4.93 Cr average, partly due to the smaller cohort size and fiscal restraint.

But, fixed pay only tells only half of the story. Founders also earn from one-time windfalls such as ESOP encashments and performance-linked payouts, which significantly increase take-home salary.

For instance, Delhivery’s Sahil Barua drew a fixed pay of INR 2.8 Cr but had gains of INR 26.5 Cr due to exercise of ESOPs. His cofounder Kapil Bharati also recorded INR 15.2 Cr gains due to exercise of ESOPs, while his fixed salary stood at INR 2.8 Cr. This demonstrates that ESOPs remain the primary mechanism for a founder’s wealth creation.

The data also highlighted diverging approaches to leadership compensation at various new-age tech companies. Bhavish Aggarwal of Ola Electric nearly doubled his fixed pay to INR 6.5 Cr in FY25, even as the EV maker reported a loss of over INR 2,200 Cr in the year.

At the other end of the spectrum was Eternal’s Deepinder Goyal, who continued his no-salary approach. Then, there was Falguni Nayar of Nykaa, who drew a modest INR 78 Lakh fixed pay, one of the lowest in the list. However, this does not include the millions of ESOPs that the two are sitting on and may have liquidated over the years.

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 remunerations of the founders.

Company Name	Founders	Fixed Pay (FY25)	Other Perks	Fixed Pay (FY24)	YoY Change	FY25 Operating Revenue	FY25 Profit/Loss
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
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%
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%
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%
Chintan Thakkar	INR 2.9	INR 2.8 Cr	3.50%
Pawan Goyal	INR 3.2	INR 3 Cr	6.60%
Nykaa	Falguni Nayar	INR 78 Lakh	INR 66 Lakh	18.20%	INR 7,950 Cr	INR 72 Cr
Ola Electric	Bhavish Aggarwal	INR 6.5 Cr	INR 2.9 Cr	124.10%	INR 4,645 Cr	-INR 2,276 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

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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