After the Chennai Magistrate Court, the Principal Sessions Court has turned down the bail plea of Yogendra Vasupal, co-founder of the now-defunct homestay startup Stayzilla, in a dispute over dues with a vendor.
Rupal Yogendra, Vasupal’s wife and co-founder of Stayzilla, told VCCircle that she will appeal in a higher court.
Last week, the Special Metropolitan Magistrate Court had refused Vasupal bail on grounds that his police custody application was pending. Vasupal and co-founder Sachit Singhi are the first and second accused in the case, respectively. A separate anticipatory bail application moved by Singhi was also dismissed by the court.
Vasupal was arrested on 14 March by the Chennai Police on charges of fraud by advertising firm Jigsaw Advertising who alleged that the founder owed them dues worth Rs 1.72 crore.
Vasupal’s arrest came barely weeks after Stayzilla shut down its operations.
In a blog on publishing site Medium, Vasupal wrote about various ordeals he and Singhi went through prior to their arrest. Rupal Yogendra said Vasupal wrote the blog, titled ‘Help! I need everybody,’ before he was taken into police custody.
Stayzilla had raised close to $30 million in funding, including an undisclosed amount in Series A from investors including Nexus Venture Partners and Matrix Partners, according to data from VCCEdge, the data platform of News Corp VCCircle. In February 2015, it raised $15 million in Series B funding led by Nexus Venture Partners.
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