PhonePe-owned Indus Appstore co-founder Akash Dongre steps down
- ByStartupStory | June 8, 2026
Akash Dongre, co-founder of PhonePe-owned Indus Appstore, has stepped down from the company after more than a decade of building the indigenous app discovery and distribution platform.
Dongre announced his departure through a LinkedIn post on Tuesday, becoming the latest co-founder to move on from the company. Earlier, Rakesh Deshmukh, former CEO and co-founder of Indus OS, transitioned away from the company in early 2024.
Founded in 2013 by Dongre, Deshmukh, and Sudhir Bangera, Indus OS was created to build technology products tailored for Indian users, with a strong focus on local languages and content discovery. The startup partnered with Micromax in 2015 and later expanded across multiple smartphone brands. According to Dongre, Indus OS became the second-largest mobile operating system by shipments in India in 2016.
The company pivoted to the app store business in 2019 and partnered with Samsung to bring its marketplace to devices across the country.
PhonePe acquired Indus OS in July 2022 following a prolonged legal battle. The company was subsequently rebranded as Indus Appstore, and the Walmart-backed fintech formally launched the platform in February 2024 as a homegrown alternative to Google Play Store, supporting 12 Indian languages alongside English.
In his post, Dongre reflected on the company’s evolution from a regional language-focused mobile operating system to an app marketplace serving millions of users across India.
He also highlighted several milestones achieved during his tenure, including the launch of Indus Appstore at Bharat Mandapam in February 2024, onboarding Xiaomi India in March 2025, and crossing 150 million users.
According to Dongre, Indus Appstore will continue under new leadership. He added that he plans to take time off to recharge and reflect before deciding on his next move, although he did not disclose any future plans.
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