The startup honchos who made India's most expensive real estate purchases in 2023

The biggest realty buy of 2023 in Startup Inc was by Rategain managing director Bhanu Chopra at Rs 127.48 crore

As startup funding dried up in 2023 and the number of employee stock option (ESOP) cashouts in the ecosystem fell to a third, fewer startup executives featured among India's most expensive real estate purchases of the year, compared to 2022.

While 12 of India’s most expensive realty purchases in 2022 were by top startup executives, the number halved to 6 in 2023, according to data from Zapkey.

Moneycontrol reported earlier that the number of ESOP cashout events by startups fell by more than 62 percent to 16 in 2023 from 42 a year back, even as startup funding crashed to a third of 2022 to $814 million.

“While a part of the reason could be attributed to lower liquidity in the startup ecosystem in 2023, last year also saw the price of the biggest property transactions of India Inc going higher. There was a marked increase in the number of transactions in the Rs 100-300 crore range, whereas startup guys mostly play in the sub-Rs 50 crore range,” said Zapkey co-founder Sandeep Reddy.

While the biggest property purchase in India Inc during 2023 was by DMart founder Radhakishan Damani at Rs 1,238 crore, the biggest buy in Startup Inc was by Rategain managing director Bhanu Chopra — almost 10 times lower — at Rs 127.48 crore.

Rategain is a hospitality SaaS company that went public in 2021. Its stock price has risen by 118 percent to Rs 743 apiece since then.

Sumir Chadha, co-founder and managing partner of WestBridge Capital, is the lone startup investor to feature in the list. He bought a property for Rs 96 crore in Worli, Mumbai. WestBridge is an investor in startups like Meesho, Physicswallah, Third Wave Coffee, Rapido and Freshworks, among many others. It also owns stakes in DMart and Yes Bank.

The only woman on the list is Neha Bagaria, the founder and CEO of HerKey, a career engagement platform for women. Bagaria made the second biggest realty purchase among startup honchos in 2023, with a Rs 121 crore buy in one of India’s poshest localities — Mumbai’s Malabar Hills.

Lenskart chief Peyush Bansal was the only unicorn founder to feature in the rankings this year as he bought an Rs 18 crore property in Delhi’s Neeti Bagh. His co-founder and sister Neha Bansal had featured in the list last year with a Rs 22 crore purchase in the Greater Kailash neighbourhood of the national capital.