Individuals who have transitioned from managing established companies to launching their own startups are three times more likely to obtain seed funding, as indicated by the report.

Operator-led startups raised $101 million in 2024, representing a 243 percent increase compared to 2023. They made up 11.5 percent of total venture funding in 2024, up from just 6 percent the previous year. This funding is significantly higher than the $53 million acquired in 2022, according to a report commissioned by early-stage venture capital firm RTP Global.

The report indicates that the increase in funding is driven by liquidity from ESOP buybacks, a quest for new opportunities, the return of talent from the U.S., and the effects of widespread layoffs.

From 2022 to 2024, approximately 238 former operators started their own businesses. On March 6, over a dozen entrepreneurs resigned from their positions at startups to launch new ventures.

“Many operator-founders bring a practical perspective, shaped by hands-on experience that aids them in scaling effectively,” says Nishit Garg, an investment partner at RTP Global and former vice president at Flipkart.

The typical seed round for former operators transitioning to founders, from 2022 to 2024, averaged $1.56 million, which is about 1.2 times greater than the $1.3 million raised by other startups.

Karan Mehta and Sonali Jindal, two of the four co-founders of the digital lending platform Kissht, initiated the debt resolution platform Rezolv, successfully securing $3.5 million in seed funding from early-stage investment firm 3one4 Capital in March.

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In a similar vein, Mayank Kumar, the founder of Upgrad, who stepped down from his executive position at the edtech company in October of last year, raised $7 million for his new venture, Borderplus, which focuses on cross-border workforce skilling.