News Update

Protonn closes its doors and pays out $9 million in dividends to investors

• ByStartupStory     |    January 20, 2022

According to those familiar with the situation, Protonn, a business created by former Flipkart executives, shut down just six months after raising funding.Anil Goteti and Mausam Bhatt launched the Bengaluru and San Francisco-based business, which had garnered $9 million in venture capital.

Independent professionals such as lawyers, graphic designers, and dietitians may use its platform to launch their businesses online, create videos, have live sessions, generate payment connections, and track their financial performance. 

According to those familiar with the situation, the company was unable to discover the correct product-market fit, and the founders refused to agree to a business model pivot. According to them, it has fully ceased operations and laid off all its staff.

Goteti remained silent. “Covid-19 didn’t help the startup either, but there was a point when a pivot became necessary, but founders weren’t on the same page on that,” the source added, adding that the company has returned all funds to investors.

Matrix Partners, 021 Capital, and Tanglin Venture Partners are among the investors, as are renowned angel investors such as Binny Bansal, Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Udaan co-founder Sujeet Kumar, and Cred’s Kunal Shah. Goteti, who worked at Flipkart as a senior vice president, left the business in November 2020. Bhatt formerly worked for Google and was a former executive at Flipkart. In July 2021, the firm obtained seed money after launching its product in the United States.

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