Venture Capitalist Alleges Indian-origin Startup Founders Faked Ties With Tech Giants To Lure Investors
US-based venture capitalist Ash Arora has alleged serious misconduct by two Indian-origin startup founders, claiming they misrepresented their businesses to lure investors. These allegations have sparked both criticism and introspection across the startup community.
In a post shared on X (formerly Twitter), Arora, a partner at LocalGlobe and a Forbes 30 Under 30 (Europe Finance) listee, said, 'Have met two founders in SF this month. Both fraud: 1. Is subletting a rented apartment and showing that as revenue for his startup. 2. Is claiming Amazon and Google are clients who have signed LOIs when they have never even heard of them," she wrote.
What truly lit the fuse, however, was Arora's follow-up remark, where she wrote, 'What's common among them? Both desi men. Beware of these people!"
This characterisation quickly ignited debate online. While the underlying concern about startup ethics struck a chord with many, others took issue with her framing, accusing her of reinforcing stereotypes based on ethnicity.
A sample of two. What's the point of including their race ?— bubble boi (@bubblebabyboi) July 8, 2025
Another user wrote, 'The 'desi men' part is a spicy take, but honestly, the patterns of fraud in SF are pretty universal. Desperation or greed, it always comes back to the same stuff."
The 'desi men' part is a spicy take, but honestly, the patterns of fraud in SF are pretty universal. Desperation or greed, it always comes back to the same stuff.— Dan (@salinasdanielf) July 8, 2025
'Generalise a race off of a sample set of 2? Why would a brown male founder even want to take your money? Do better," read one of the comments.
Generalize a race off of a sample set of 2?Why would a brown male founder even want to take your money?
Do better.
— Vishal Jain (@vishal_the_jain) July 9, 2025
Arora, though, stood by her words. She clarified that her use of the term 'desi" was intended to subtly point to the individuals without directly naming them.
'It breaks my heart that Indians are doing this and ruining the reputation of my country," she replied to one of the comments.
Because it breaks my heart that Indians are doing this and ruining the reputation of my country— Ash Arora (@asharoraa) July 8, 2025
The conversation escalated further when Arora revealed that a few investors reached out to her.
'4 VCs have pinged me correctly guessing both these founder names. Is this Soham Parekh 2.0? We need a BS radar community out here," she wrote, referencing the now-infamous case of Soham Parekh, an engineer who was recently accused by Mixpanel co-founder Suhail Doshi of fabricating parts of his resume and misrepresenting his background.
4 VCs have pinged me correctly guessing both these founder namesIs this Soham Parekh 2.0? We need a BS radar community out here.
— Ash Arora (@asharoraa) July 8, 2025
The timing of Arora's remarks, coming just days after Suhail Doshi publicly called out Soham Parekh, has further heightened scrutiny over how startup founders portray themselves and their ventures to investors.
While the identities of the two founders remain unknown, the post has reignited concerns about ethical standards in startup culture, especially within Silicon Valley's competitive ecosystem.
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