PhonePe co-founder

Rahul Chari: the PhonePe co-founder and CTO

An engineer who turned down IIT Bombay and went on to build a payments platform.

Rahul Chari earned a JEE seat at IIT Bombay but chose a different route. He studied computer engineering at Mumbai University and later took a master's degree in computer science at Purdue University.

In 2009 he co-founded Mallers Inc. and was its CTO. Flipkart acquired the company in 2011.

At Flipkart he became a vice president of engineering and built the stack behind the Ekart logistics business.

In December 2015 he and Sameer Nigam left Flipkart to found PhonePe. Flipkart acquired the company in April 2016, and its UPI app launched with Yes Bank in August 2016. Chari serves as chief technology officer.

Read the full PhonePe founder story

What is Rahul Chari's education?

Rahul Chari earned a master's degree in computer science from Purdue University in the US. He holds a bachelor's degree in computer engineering from Mumbai University. He won a seat at IIT Bombay through JEE but did not take it.

What did Rahul Chari do before PhonePe?

He co-founded Mallers Inc. in 2009 and served as its CTO. Flipkart acquired it in 2011, and he became a vice president of engineering, building the stack for the Ekart logistics arm.

What is Rahul Chari's role at PhonePe?

He is co-founder and chief technology officer. He and Sameer Nigam left Flipkart in December 2015 to set up PhonePe.