Rishen Kapoor, Co-founder and CEO of SaaS startup Toplyne, has rejoined Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India & SEA), following the wind-down of his three-and-a-half-year-old venture.
Kapoor’s return to Peak XV marks a homecoming; he had earlier served on the firm’s investment team and was a founding member of Surge, Peak XV’s seed-stage programme.
Kapoor shared the news on LinkedIn and X, reflecting on the challenges and rewards of building Toplyne and expressing excitement about returning to his roots in venture capital.
“Building Toplyne was rewarding but challenging. We worked with amazing customers and teammates but ultimately decided to wind down the business. The lessons from that journey will stay with me,” Kapoor wrote in his post.
Founded in 2021 by Kapoor along with Ruchin Kulkarni and Rohit Khanna, Toplyne aimed to help businesses optimise their product-led growth strategies by converting freemium users into paying customers. The platform integrated with CRM and analytics tools and product engagement platforms.
Backed by marquee investors, including Tiger Global, Peak XV, and Surge, Toplyne raised $15 million in a Series A round in 2022.
Despite early traction and a roster of prominent clients, inlcuding Canva, BrowserStack, and Gather.Town, the company struggled to achieve its desired scale and product-market fit.
