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Sachin Dev Duggal, the founder of one of the UK’s best-funded tech start-ups Builder.ai, has stepped down as its chief executive, capping a rollercoaster tenure running a company backed by Microsoft and SoftBank.

The London-based group, which claims to use artificial intelligence to develop apps and websites, has received $450mn from top investors including Qatar Investment Authority and Insight Partners. It has been lauded by the UK government for its role in the country’s tech scene.

Last week, the company announced that Duggal was to be replaced as chief but would remain on its board as founder and retain the title of “chief wizard”.

Asked why the leadership had changed, Builder.ai told the Financial Times: “This topic has been under discussion for some time, and with the company’s evolution and growth in serving [small and medium-sized businesses] and enterprise customers globally, we have made a strategic change in leadership.”

The FT reported last year the multiple problems faced by Builder.ai, including what several former employees described as a fast turnover of staff, with some blaming Duggal’s leadership style, and complaints about the company’s services and its ability to deliver on time.

Lawyers for the company said at the time that the cases of unhappy customers cited by the FT were the result of unforeseen technical challenges or due to a customer pausing their project. They said that work at Builder.ai was “fast-paced”, with employees “encouraged to respond to that environment”.

The FT also revealed that, in 2023, the Indian Directorate of Enforcement named Duggal as a suspect in a warrant application related to a money-laundering investigation into Videocon, the Indian home appliances group that collapsed into bankruptcy in 2018. 

Duggal had not appeared following a summons from the directorate in 2022 to be a witness in the investigation, over alleged “unexplained transactions” between what investigators said was his company and Videocon.

A Mumbai judge then denied an application for a warrant to force Duggal to appear before investigators. When the directorate switched his designation from “witness” to “suspect”, it was able to obtain a warrant from a Delhi court instead.

Duggal is appealing against the warrant and denies any wrongdoing. His lawyers told the FT last year that the original court summons had been invalid and they maintained Duggal was still only a witness.

His replacement as Builder.ai chief, Manpreet Ratia, a managing partner at Asia-focused investor Jungle Ventures, said his focus as chief executive would be on “ensuring that we scale effectively, execute with operational excellence, and continue to drive value for our customers, employees, and investors”.

In a statement, Duggal said: “This evolution marks an exciting new chapter for Builder.ai. After eight years of growth, bringing in fresh perspective and operational excellence is crucial for our next phase.”

Additional reporting by Benjamin Parkin