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T-Hub appoints ex-OYO executive as new CEO
HYDERABAD — Hyderabad-based start up incubator T-Hub has appointed Kavikrut as its new chief executive officer, the Telangana government announced today.
Kavikrut, who previously served as chief growth officer at OYO for 10 years, will take up his new role on 10 March. During his tenure at OYO, he was instrumental in expanding the company’s operations across more than 100 cities in India and spearheaded its expansion into Japan in 2018 through partnerships with Yahoo! Japan and SoftBank.
The appointment reinforces Telangana’s commitment to strengthening its position as a hub for entrepreneurship and innovation. T-Hub has supported over 2,000 startups to date through its programmes, providing global market access and industry collaborations.
Telangana government special chief secretary for information technology, electronics & communications and industries & commerce departments Jayesh Ranjan said: “Kavikrut’s passion for startups, global experience, and hands-on operational skills make him the ideal leader for T-Hub.”
Before his role at OYO, Kavikrut began his career as a healthcare startup founder and held positions at Amazon and Piramal Group. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and an MSc in Finance from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani.
Upon his appointment, Kavikrut, who hails from Hyderabad, expressed enthusiasm about returning to his hometown: “I am excited by the potential of Hyderabad as it steadily grows into a hub for startups building products and services from India for the world.”
T-Hub aims to continue fostering entrepreneurship through mentorship, funding opportunities, and strategic support under its new leadership.
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UK’s OnlyFans seeks US investor at $3bn valuation after owner’s death
The adult video platform is seeking stability after the death of its billionaire owner
LONDON: OnlyFans is looking for a new partner. The London-based adult video platform is in advanced talks to sell a minority stake of less than 20 per cent to Architect Capital, a San Francisco-based investment firm, in a deal that would value the business at more than $3bn (£2.2bn).
The move is driven by an urgent need for stability. Leonid Radvinsky, the Ukrainian-American billionaire who owned OnlyFans, died of cancer last month at the age of 43, leaving the future of one of Britain’s most profitable privately held businesses suddenly uncertain.
The choice of Architect Capital is not arbitrary. The firm has deep expertise in financial services, which aligns neatly with OnlyFans’ ambitions to offer banking products to its creators, many of whom have long struggled to access basic financial services because of the nature of their work.
The numbers behind OnlyFans are, by any measure, staggering. The platform posted revenues of $1.4bn in the year to 30th November 2024, with a pre-tax profit of $684m, up four per cent on the prior year. Payments to creators totalled $7.2bn over the same period, a rise of nearly ten per cent. Radvinsky personally collected $701m in dividends from the business in 2024 alone, on top of more than $1bn in such payments he had already received. The platform, run through its parent company Felix International, hosts 4.6m creator accounts, with performers keeping 80 per cent of subscription proceeds and the platform pocketing the remaining 20 per cent. It has 377m fan accounts in total.
The current minority stake talks represent a notable scaling back of ambitions. In January, OnlyFans was reported to be in discussions with Architect about selling a majority stake of 60 per cent. Before that, the company had explored a sale to a consortium led by Forest Road Company, a Los Angeles-based investment firm. Neither deal materialised.
OnlyFans has built an enormously lucrative business on content that mainstream finance has long refused to touch. Now, with its owner gone and a $3bn valuation on the table, it is looking for the kind of respectable institutional backing that might finally persuade the banks to take its calls.
