Pepperfry CEO Ambareesh Murty dies due to cardiac arrest

PTI, Aug 8, 2023, 1:18 PM IST

Credit: X/Ambareesh Murty

Pepperfry Co-founder and CEO Ambareesh Murty died in Leh due to cardiac arrest, company co-founder and COO Ashish Shah said on Tuesday.

Murty, 51 years old, was also an angel investor.

He recently announced completing 12 years at Pepperfry on his LinkedIn post.

He was an alumnus of IIT Calcutta, 1996 batch and completed his Bachelors in Engineering from the Delhi College of Engineering in 1994.

”Extremely devastated to inform that my friend, mentor, brother, soulmate Ambareesh Murty is no more. Lost him yesterday night to a cardiac arrest at Leh. Please pray for him and for strength to his family and near ones,” Pepperfry Co-Founder and COO Ashish Shah said in a tweet.

Murty called himself a closet sociopath on his X (formerly Twitter) profile, and professed a love for history reading epic fantasies.

He had 27 years of general management experience in FMCG, financial services and internet industries.

Murty started his career with Cadbury in their sales and marketing division, moving onto short stints in ICICI Prudential, Britannia and Levi’s.

According to his profile on Linkedin, Murty ran a financial training and business consulting firm, Origin Resources from 2003-05 in Bangalore before joining eBay as their Country Manager for India, Philippines and Malaysia where he stayed till 2011.

Murty founded omnichannel furniture and home decor company Pepperfry in 2012 with Shah.

Condolences poured in for the co-founder, with entrepreneurs and users taking to X to express shock and grief.

”Om shanti. Heartbroken and stunned to learn about Ambareesh Murty’s untimely departure due to a cardiac arrest. May his soul find eternal peace. An extraordinary entrepreneur and a true inspiration to countless… may his legacy with Pepperfry endure #RIP,” CEO and founder of NirogStreet, Ram N Kumar posted.

Managing Partner at climatora, Debadutta Upadhyaya expressed her shock, offering her prayers and thoughts to the Pepperfry team. ”Travel well Ambareesh,” she wrote on X.

Murty was an avid biker and also loved hiking.

Managing Director for Spotify India Amarjit Batra expressed his grief, saying he had lost ”a great friend and an amazing leader”.

”Really sad and shocked to hear this tragic news. May his soul rest in peace. Heartfelt and deepest condolences to his family and the Pepperfry team,” he posted.

Founder of Droom Sandeep Aggarwal shared he knew Murty from the time he was exiting eBay.

”So shocked and sad to hear about this. Knew him from the time he was exiting eBay. Amazing human being, very learned and great soul. Our prayers for his family and Pepperfry family. Om shanti!!,” he posted.

Since inception, Pepperfry has built a market leadership as the largest furniture marketplace by offering great value, a large variety of curated merchandise with over 1 lakh items from over 10,000 merchants.