The mystery of Pearl Kapur, ‘India’s youngest self-anointed billionaire’

It is quite likely that very few had heard about Zyber 365 Technologies until last July.

That changed when the start-up claimed entry into the hallowed club of Indian Unicorns, saying it had raised a whopping $100 million dollars from an entity, which had also announced a similar quantum of funding for the cargo division of aviation company SpiceJet.

Zyber founder Pearl Kapur hit the headlines because of his claim of a $100 million Series A funding round that leapfrogged the Web 3.0 AI firm to a valuation of $1.2 billion.

This was remarkable, and even more so as the investment announcement came just one week after the company’s incorporation in India on July 20, 2023, as per market intelligence platform Tofler. Interestingly, the London-based parent company—Zyber 365 Technologies Plc—was established just two months earlier in May that same year.

The claim of becoming “India and Asia’s fastest Unicorn in just three months” and the “109th Unicorn in India’s vibrant start-up ecosystem” got some traction, as Unicorn status bestows a start-up with access to even more investors seeking a piece of the action and a spot on its cap table.

Over a year later, a cursory examination of publicly available documents of Zyber365 Tech does not reveal much and raises some questions.

With an authorised capital of Rs 15 lakh and paid-up capital of Rs 1 lakh, the registered address of the firm is “c/o Manmohan Singh, village Tharoli, Hoshiarpur City, Punjab”. Two offices are mentioned—both in India, at Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar in Punjab and Vastrapur in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The company’s website, www.zyber365.com, claims the global headquarters is located in London.

The Indian company has three directors on its board—Pearlpreet Singh Kapur, aka Pearl Kapur, with the job title of Founder & Chairman, and Sunny Piyushkumar Vaghela. Both have been on the board since the Indian subsidiary was incorporated. Another director, Surdas Puthem, came on board a couple of months later on September 2. Details sourced from Tracxn show Kapur and Vaghela are the co-founders.

Meanwhile, Vaghela got in touch with Business Today and clarified that he had stepped down from his position as co-founder of Zyber 365 on May 19 this year.

The contents of his resignation letter addressed to Kapur, which was shared with Business Today, says, “None of the plans regarding product development, obtaining funding, or implementing the suggested strategies with Antier Solutions (a blockchain development company that Zyber 365 wanted to onboard as a development partner) have come to fruition for the last one year despite multiple rounds of conversations and assurances given from your side! Also, note that I have not been involved in any matters concerning the company since inception. I have also sent an official resignation letter to your Chartered Accountant’s office and to the registered address of Zyber 365.” Vaghela’s letter goes on to say, “Please ensure that my name is removed from all company records with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) and from the Zyber 365 website. Additionally, kindly stop using TechDefence’s (an Ahmedabad-based cyber security firm that Waghela owns) address on the website. Also, request you to refrain from using my name with Zyber365 for any reasons.”

So, what exactly does Zyber 365 do?

For starters, from the time the company was incorporated, no financial reports have been filed with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. On its website, it claims to be “a leading multinational conglomerate enriching lives”. 

The funding that catapulted Zyber into a Unicorn status is said to be led by the London-based SRAM & MRAM Group, chaired by Sailesh Lachu Hiranandani, who began his career in commodity trading in India and Cambodia.

The statement issued on the Zyber funding describes SRAM & MRAM Group as having “made notable investments in key sectors; invested $3.64 billion in a state-of-the-art semiconductor fabrication plant in India, underscoring their commitment to bolstering the country’s technology infrastructure. Additionally, a $100-million investment in the air cargo business of SpiceXpress and Logistics (the cargo division of SpiceJet), further expanding their presence in the aviation and logistics industry.” 

SpiceJet put out a statement that the UK-based group “will invest $100 million in SpiceXpress and Logistics Pvt. Limited. Both sides have signed a MoU as a part of the investment deal.” This was soon after SpiceJet completed the process of hiving off SpiceXpress into a separate entity, “paving the way for the company to raise funds independently.”

The statement quoted Ajay Singh, the airline’s Chairman and Managing Director, as being “delighted to enter into an MoU with SRAM and MRAM Group.” Hiranandani, too, was effusive and spoke of “excellent growth opportunities in the logistics and cargo space in India.”

Dig a little deeper, and it turns out that no actual funding has flown into the SpiceJet cargo venture, well over 16 months after the press statement.
A set of queries from BT on the status of the deal met with a brief response from a SpiceJet spokesperson: “We wish to clarify that no investment has been made by SRAM and MRAM Group in SpiceXpress.”

A detailed set of questions sent to Kapur—both on his official and personal email addresses—did not elicit any response. He is a fairly visible face on social media; an Instagram handle describes him as India’s youngest billionaire at 27. 

Meanwhile, an email sent to SRAM and MRAM Group on the investments in Zyber 365 and SpiceExpress has received no response so far. The copy will be updated with the response once it is forthcoming.