Meet Mahesh Murthy, college dropout who co-founded financing firm that backed RedBus, CarWale, more

Ankiti Bose, a co-founder of the Singapore-based fashion technology business Zilingo, has accused Mahesh Murthy, a well-known venture capitalist and Seedfund co-founder, of defamation. The lawsuit, according to those who have knowledge of the situation, was initiated by Mr. Murthy's piece that appeared in the March 1 issue of Outlook Business magazine.

Who is Mahesh Murthy?

Mahesh Murthy is an investor, businessman, and marketer from India. He founded the online marketing firm Pinstorm. Mahesh Murthy was born and brought up in a family of Tamil Brahmins. His father was a colonel who served in the Indian Army before retiring. At the age of 17, Murthty left Osmania University after being accepted to study chemical engineering there.

He started his first business, a cleaning firm named Vaclean, after dropping out from college by working as a hoover salesman for Eureka Forbes. He worked in India for the advertising firms Grey Advertising (formerly Trikaya Grey) and FCB (then FCB/Ulka), where he received numerous advertising honours for his work on behalf of HCL, Network, and other clients.

He established Pinstorm, a digital marketing agency, in 2004. With operations in Kathmandu, Nepal, and Amsterdam, Netherlands, Pinstorm has its main office in Mumbai, India. One of the earliest marketing companies in the world to use performance-based payment promotion was Pinstorm.

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He co-founded Seedfund in 2006, an early-stage venture financing firm that provided funding and consulting to businesses like RedBus, CarWale, SabKaDentist, Chumbak, and Sportskeeda. He made an investment in Exseed Space in 2017, which eventually changed its name to Satellize, and made records by launching India's first private satellite into orbit on board SpaceX.

Exseed Space was one of the businesses selected by ISRO to assemble, integrate, and test its huge satellites weighing 2,000 kilogrammes and more, and the company has since launched aboard ISRO's PSLV as well. Exseed Space contributed to the team that built the GSAT-30, GSAT-31, and RISAT 1A satellites, which were launched in 2021.

Why did Zilingo CEO Ankiti Bose file a defamation case against Mahesh Murthy?

Those with knowledge of the situation claim that Mahesh Murthy's article, which appeared in the March 1 issue of Outlook Business magazine, was the starting point for the lawsuit. In the paper, Mr. Murthy accused Ms. Bose of forcibly stealing money from a startup. According to rumours, Ankiti Bose has sued Mahesh Murthy for defamation in the Bombay High Court for $100 million (more than Rs 820 crore).