THE co-founder of digital telecom provider Circles is stepping down from the company’s management team, part of an internal staffing overhaul aimed at shedding costs after years of attempts to take on Singapore’s incumbent services.
Abhishek Gupta, who helped build the business over the past seven years, will now take on a non-executive role and it’s unclear what his future duties include, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified as the information is private. While Gupta never formally adopted the CEO’s title, he was regarded as the public face of a company that once sought to take on Singtel in Singapore, and oversaw its business-facing arm Circles X.
Co-founder Rameez Ansar was identified as chief executive officer at an industry event last month. Gupta’s shift, which hasn’t been previously reported, underscores the upheaval underway at a startup that once harbored ambitions of disrupting the staid, carefully controlled Singaporean wireless industry.
The startup denied in a statement on Saturday that Gupta’s role had been reduced.
“Abhishek is not taking on a non-executive role or a non-executive director role. He remains a co-founder with the same title and is strongly vested in the business,” a spokesperson said in the emailed statement.
The management reshuffle is part of a new project titled “Brave New World,” or a move by top investors to give Ansar 180 days to turn the company around, the people said.
