 "Shreyas Srinivasan quits as Paytm's CPO after Zomato's Insider acquisition")
Shreyas Srinivasan, Paytm’s chief product officer and head of consumer products has resigned. Srinivasan, who founded the live event and ticketing platform Insider.in, decided to step down after Paytm’s finalised the sale of Insider.in to the online food delivery giant Zomato, reported Moneycontrol.
The Rs 2,000-crore acquisition was finalised in the second quarter, with Srinivasan officially exiting his position at Insider in August and marking his last day at Paytm this Monday.
Reflecting on his departure in a LinkedIn post, Srinivasan said, “In August, when the deal between Zomato and Paytm Entertainment closed, it felt like the right time to take a break, fix the technology debt of my body, and re-discover a passion I can chase for the next two decades.”
The acquisition benefits both National Capital Region-based tech giants. Paytm will retain entertainment ticketing on its app and related platforms for the next 12 months, while users will gradually transition to Zomato’s new ‘District’ app, designed to support Zomato’s ‘going out’ services.
The sale of Insider.in has also bolstered Paytm’s financial performance, helping the company achieve its first-ever net profit of Rs 930 crore for the quarter ending September 2024, a significant turnaround from a loss of Rs 290 crore a year ago. Without this exceptional gain, Paytm’s Q2 loss would have been Rs 495 crore, reflecting a 70 per cent increase over the same quarter last year.
From Insider to Paytm
Srinivasan’s journey began in 2010 with talent management firm Only Much Louder (OML), where he served as director. In 2014, OML launched Insider.in, an innovative ticketing and events platform, with Srinivasan at the helm as founder and chief executive. He recalled, “I was uniquely positioned to build a product in this space. Building a new platform required new solutions in every part of the ticketing stack.”
Under Srinivasan’s leadership, Insider.in flourished, particularly after the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions, growing four-fold in two years. Paytm acquired Insider in 2017 for Rs 35 crore, bringing Srinivasan on board as chief executive of the division. In 2022, he took on an expanded role at Paytm as chief product officer and head of consumer products.