Two of the co-founders of new-age logistics major Delhivery has left the firm just as the startup is readying for its initial public offering (IPO), two people aware of the situtation said.

Bhavesh Manglani and Mohit Tandon, two of the five original co-founders of Delhivery, have 'stepped aside' from day-to-day tasks. They have also been 'reclassified' as 'retiring/non-active promoters' for their stake in Delhivery. This, sources added, has been done keeping in mind that promoters would have a lock-in period before they can sell their shares after an Initial public offering..

The proposal of Manglani and Tandon leaving Delhivery was taken to Delhivery's board earlier this year and the same has been approved, sources attached. "Both of them have left the firm and one of them might start up again," a person aware of the matter stated. Both Manglani and Tandon may consider selling their shares during Delhivery's expected IPO in 2021 or 2022.

A Delhivery spokesperson confirmed the developments to TOI. "After 10 years of building Delhivery, two of the five co-founders have decided to move on to pursue other interests," she made a statement.

Besides Manglani, an IIM, Calcutta alumnus, and Tandon, an IIT Kanpur alumnus, Sahil Barua, Kapil Bharati and Suraj Saharan are the other co-founders of the 10-year-old endeavor. Every one of the five founders together hold under 10% stake in the firm. Barua is also the CEO of Delhivery. Marquee names like SoftBank, Tiger Global, Carlyle and Canada's pension fund are among its prominent investors. Delhivery is in the middle of converses to raise a pre-IPO round at a valuation of around $3 billion, announced earlier this month.

Prior to this, Zomato co-founder Pankaj Chaddah left the online food delivery firm in 2018 in one of the first such high profile exits of a co-founder from a top internet startup. Chaddah proceeded to begin another endeavor Mindhouse, a mental wellness startup.

Separately, in a post on Medium dated March 17, Manglani wrote, “I have been wanting to pursue a few personal goals for a while now and the time seems apt, with able & seasoned leadership across levels, robust systems in place, strong set of investors, a very credible board and marquee clients across business verticals championing Delhivery’s journey.”

Besides the founders, Sandeep Barasia and Ajith Pai are two of the most senior executives at Delhivery. Barasia was made CBO in 2018 while Pai, who was CFO, was appointed COO. Amit Agarwal was then made the CFO.