Ex-Twitter India head Maheshwari quits startup he founded 6 months ago

New Delhi, May 27

Former Twitter India head Manish Maheshwari who founded Invact Metaversity, an online platform for education and Web3.0, on Friday announced he is leaving the startup to "pursue new opportunities".

Founded by Maheshwari and Tanay Pratap just six month ago, Invact Metaversity in February received $5 million in funding led by Arkam Ventures to build a metaverse of education and expand globally.

"I am moving out of Invact to first take a break for a few months and then pursue new opportunities. It is heartbreaking for a founder to leave the startup, like a mother leaving her baby. I am going through the same emotion," Maheshwari tweeted.

"I have full trust in @tanaypratap. I will be cheering from the sidelines for Invact to become the next unicorn and ultimately go for an IPO under his leadership," he added.

Invact Metaversity had also raised capital from more than 70 individual investors, like Balaji Srinivasan (former CTO of Coinbase and GP at Andreessen Horowitz), Caesar Sengupta (former senior Google executive), Nithin Kamath (founder, Zerodha), Kunal Bahl (founder, Snapdeal), Benjamin Ampen (Managing Director Twitter MENA) and others.

Invact Metaversity said in a tweet that "Manish Maheshwari has stepped down from his position as Chief Executive Officer and Director of Invact, Inc. as of May 27, 2022."

"The decision to part ways was not an easy one, but ultimately, @manishm and

@tanaypratap had diverging visions for the company's long-term prospects. Invact will continue and under leadership of Tanay will pursue its vision to make quality education accessible via Metaversity," the startup added.

Maheshwari earlier envisioned building a virtual-first curriculum and expanding into Europe and the US.

"Metaverse is a concept that stands at a cusp where it will be a lead factor in transforming the educational landscape," said Maheshwari.

"Changes are often heartbreaking but sometimes necessary. We started together, built together, and celebrated together. Invact will continue to build on its vision of accessible quality education for all. Wishing Manish all the best for the future," tweeted Pratap.