Shreyas Srinivasan Exits Paytm Following Zomato Deal

Shreyas Srinivasan, the Chief Product Officer (CPO) for Consumer Products at Paytm and the Founder and CEO of Paytm Insider (now owned by Zomato), has announced his departure from the company following the recent sale of Insider.in, Paytm’s ticketing business, to Zomato.

In a heartfelt social media post, Srinivasan revealed that his exit was prompted by the completion of the deal between Zomato and Paytm Entertainment. “In August, when the deal between Zomato and Paytm Entertainment closed, it felt like the right time to take a break, fix tech debt of my body and re-discover a passion I can chase for the next two decades,” he stated.

Srinivasan’s journey in the live entertainment and ticketing industry began in 2010 with NH7, a multi-location music festival, where he collaborated with concert organizers to enhance consumer experiences. This foundational experience paved the way for him to launch Insider.in in 2014, a platform dedicated to live entertainment in India.

In 2017, Paytm acquired a majority stake in Insider.in for just over ₹35 crore, leading to a rebranding of the platform to “Paytm Insider” in 2018. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic forced Insider to restructure into two groups; one team focused on Paytm’s products, while the other prepared Insider for the return of live events. Throughout this transition, Srinivasan played a critical role in managing both the business and technical facets of the operations.

The recent acquisition by Zomato, valued at ₹2,048 crore, included the sale of Wasteland Entertainment Pvt Ltd (WEPL), which operated the Insider platform for approximately ₹783.8 crore. This strategic move marks a significant shift in the landscape of India’s entertainment ticketing sector.

Srinivasan’s exit from Paytm mirrors a similar decision made by Neehar Venugopal, the former Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and a founding member of Insider.in, who took a “health and well-being” break earlier this year after transitioning to a senior role at Paytm following the acquisition of his company.