Softbank-backed Housing.com sees boardroom spat resolved
Rahul Yadav, the CEO of Indian property listing platform Housing.com has withdrawn his resignation from the start-up and issued an apology to its VC investors - which include SoftBank - after a very public spat.
Yadav, 26, submitted his resignation earlier this week. In a leaked letter that subsequently went viral on social media, he said the board was "intellectually incapable." However, following a meeting with the board he backtracked and has been re-instated as CEO.
A public statement - first reported by The Economic Times on Tuesday - read: "After some frank and healthy discussions with the board, I have agreed to withdraw my resignation and I apologize for my unacceptable comments about the board members."
Responding to the incident, Housing.com's largest investor SoftBank has formed a new five-member executive committee, headed by its representative Jonathan Bullock. It will have oversight on all the company's major decisions.
SoftBank led a $90 million round of funding for Housing.com in December last year. Prior to that, the start-up received two rounds of angel funding in 2013 before Nexus Venture Partners came in with a $2.5 million Series A round. Earlier this year, Helion Venture Partners, Qualcomm Ventures and Nexus are said to have put in a further $19 million.
Housing.com was set up in 2012 by a group of students from the Indian Institute of Technology - Bombay. The platform uses a map interface to list properties in 45 cities, providing additional information such as photographs and details of nearby local amenities to assist users in their search. It has over 350,000 verified listings.
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