Saas Startup Toplyne Ceases Operations, Returns Capital to Investors After Shutting Down

Toplyne, a SaaS startup, focusing on sales automation, has announced that it will shut down after nearly 3.5 years in business.

In a LinkedIn article, cofounder and CEO Rishen Kapoor announced the company’s decision to wind down and return funds to investors.

Kapoor stated that despite tremendous efforts, Toplyne was unable to attain the scale and product-market fit that it had previously aimed for. The specific amount of capital refunded was not disclosed.

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Toplyne, founded in 2021 by Rishen Kapoor, Ruchin Kulkarni, and Rohit Khanna, aims to help product-led growth (PLG) firms turn free users into paying customers. The startup’s AI-powered platform works with technologies like Salesforce and Hubspot to enhance user conversion through tailored outreach such as advertising, in-app nudges, and emails.

Despite its technology and client base, which included well-known companies such as Canva, Grafana, and BrowserStack, the business struggled to establish the right product-market fit.

In his statement, Kapoor stated, “After 3.5 years of constructing Toplyne, we’ve made the difficult decision to cease operations and return funds to our investors. Despite our best efforts, we were unable to achieve the desired scale and product-market fit.”

Kapoor also stressed the startup’s commitment to supporting its 30-person workforce during the transition.

“The team of 30 talented people gave their all across sales, customer success, machine learning, product, design, HR, and engineering,” he told me.

“Our focus now is on helping our team find their next roles (if anyone is hiring, please reach out) and supporting our customers to ensure a smooth transition,” according to Kapoor.

Toplyne has made great progress in its early years, receiving $15 million in a Series A fundraising round in 2022. Tiger Global and Peak XV (previously Sequoia Capital India) led the round, with participation from Together Fund, Sequoia India’s Surge accelerator, and a number of angel investors from firms including Canva and Zoominfo.

The money came after the startup’s original seed round of $2.5 million, which lay the groundwork for its expansion.

Kapoor thanked the company’s investors, staff, and customers for their support along the way. He stated that the founders gained vital lessons during the process and planned to share their findings in the future.

“Ruchin and I are incredibly grateful to our team, customers, and investors for believing in us and giving us the opportunity to build Toplyne.” We’ve learnt a lot—including mistakes—and plan to share those lessons shortly,” Kapoor added.