Dynamic entrepreneur Pankhuri Shrivastava no more, startup ecosystem mourns

Pankhuri Shrivastava, the 32-year old founder of women-focused social community platform 'Pankhuri', passed away on December 24 due to a cardiac arrest.

"With profound grief and sorrow, we regret to inform the sad demise of our CEO Pankhuri Shrivastava.We lost her on 24th December 2021 due to a sudden cardiac arrest. May her soul obtain Sadgati. Om Shanti," Shrivastava's company tweeted.

Venture capitalists and top executives mourned her untimely demise on social media.

Pankhuri, the Sequoia-backed women-focussed platform which was launched in 2019, helps members socialise, explore and upskill through live interactive courses, expert chat, and interest-based clubs. It also enables them to be active participants in beauty and lifestyle conversations.

The startup raised $3.2 million from Sequoia Capital India's startup accelerator programme, Surge, as well as from India Quotient and Taurus Ventures.

Prior to this, she had founded rental startup Grabhouse which was acquired by online classifieds company Quikr in 2016.