Treebo Hotels Co-Founder Rahul Chaudhary Joins VC Firm Matrix Partners

Updated on: 7 February 2023 10:10 pm

On Monday, the company announced the appointment of Sahil Barua, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Delhivery, Mallika Srinivasan, managing director (MD) of TAFE and chartered accountant Shailesh Haribhakti as three independent directors

Swiggy Plans To Go Public In The Second Half Of 2023: Report Photo: On Monday, the company announced the appointment of Sahil Barua, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Delhivery, Mallika Srinivasan, managing director (MD) of TAFE and chartered accountant Shailesh Haribhakti as three independent directors

Rahul Chaudhary, co-founder of Treebo, announced that he is joining the team at Matrix Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm, as a venture capitalist.

The development comes almost two years after stepping away from his role at the hospitality firm.

"Let's see what this VC thing is all about then. Excited to be joining the team at Matrix Partners. Hoping to be the kind of investor I've respected as a founder - Honest, Empathetic, and All-in," Chaudhary said in a Tweet on February 6.

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Let's see what this VC thing is all about then. Excited to be joining the team at Matrix Partners. Hoping to be the kind of investor I've respected as a founder - Honest, Empathetic and All-in.

Thanks Avnish, Rajat, Rajinder, Tarun, Vikram and team @matrixindiavc for having me.

— Rahul Chaudhary (@7rahulc) February 6, 2023

Founded in 2006, Matrix was a joint venture by Avnish Bajaj and Rishi Navani. Bajaj was the co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Baazee, which was later acquired and became Ebay India and Navani was a former McKinsey executive and an investor with Westbridge Capital.

Previously in 2006, Matrix raised a $300 million fund and then in 2011, it raised another $300 million.

In 2015, Navani who is one of the co-founders left Matrix to start his own firm, Epiq Capital. In 2016, Matrix raised $110 million to top up its second fund and raised a full third fund of $300 million in 2019.

Chaudhary’s Treebo is backed by Matrix Partners along with other VC firms, including Elevation Capital and Bertelsmann India. "Thanks Avnish, Rajat, Rajinder, Tarun, Vikram, and team @matrixindiavc for having me," Chaudhary highlighted in his tweet.

The Covid-19 pandemic adversely affected the hospitality industry and Treebo too faced a tough year. The company offered a paid voluntary resignation scheme to around 250 employees at the height of the pandemic and Chaudhary's exit came around the same time.

After giving up his role back in June 2021, Chaudhary continued at his venture as an advisor and a board member.