Rakesh Deshmukh steps down as CEO of PhonePe-owned Indus OS

Rakesh Deshmukh had started Indus OS in 2013 with Akash Dongre and Sudhir Bangarambandi. PhonePe acquired Indus OS in July 2022

Rakesh Deshmukh, the co-founder of PhonePe-owned app discovery platform Indus OS (now Indus Appstore), has stepped down as its CEO and left the company after a decade-long stint. This move comes as Indus Appstore gears up to launch its Android mobile app marketplace in the coming months to challenge tech giant Google's Play Store.

Deshmukh's next move is not clear at the moment. In a LinkedIn post, Deshmukh said he is "taking a moment to recharge and prepare for the next impactful journey".

"We wish Rakesh the very best for his future endeavors. Akash, Sudhir, and the entire Indus team remain steadfast in their commitment to advancing the shared vision for the Indus Appstore, which Rakesh played a pivotal role in nurturing over the past decade" said a PhonePe spokesperson.

Deshmukh had started Indus OS in 2013 with Akash Dongre and Sudhir Bangarambandi. Dongre is currently serving as the chief product officer of Indus Appstore while Bangarambandi is serving as its Chief technology officer.

The company had built an operating system focused on Indian regional languages and had tieups with several Indian mobile brands including Samsung, Micromax, and Karbonn among others. It had also built an app marketplace Indus App Bazaar that supported about 12 Indian languages including Hindi, Gujarati, Kannada, and Bengali and clocked an user base of over 200 million in its lifetime.

Among its investors were Omidyar Network India, VenturEast, Samsung Ventures, JSW Ventures, and Titan Capital.

In July 2022, PhonePe acquired Indus OS after a long protracted legal battle. In September 2023, Moneycontrol was the first to report that the Walmart-owned digital payments firm is opening up its mobile app store to Android app developers, inviting them to publish their app on the platform.

The app marketplace said it will charge a zero percent fee on in-app purchases, as compared to Google that currently levies a 15-30 percent fee from developers on in-app purchases and paid app sales.

"I was fortunate to work with Sameer Nigam (PhonePe co-founder) and learned a lot under his guidance. He is an exceptional team leader and shares the same belief in India's Appstore as I do" Deshmukh said in the LinkedIn post.

The app store will also allow developers to list their apps in 12 Indian languages apart from English, as well as upload media and videos to their app listings in these languages.

In-app partnerships

Indus Appstore claims to offer a 24x7 dedicated India-based support via email or chatbot with "assured assistance and quick resolution of queries", in a bid to address a common pain point that developers have often faced with Google and Apple. The platform will also offer dedicated account managers.

In November 2023, Indus Appstore announced that it is onboarding apps from prominent real-money game developers, including Dream11, Nazara Technologies, Gameskraft, and Mobile Premier League (MPL), to its forthcoming Android app store.

Among other developers who will be onboarding their apps to the app store include A23 (Head Digital Works), Junglee Rummy, Taj Rummy, Rummy Passion, RummyCulture, RummyTime and CardBaazi.

The company has also struck partnerships with device makers such as Nokia and Lava to integrate the app store into their devices.