A leading tech conference has pulled the founder of Builder.ai from its lineup, citing security concerns after receiving “numerous” complaints.
Once among the UK’s most-hyped startups, Builder last raised a $250m funding round in May 2023 amid the AI boom following the release of ChatGPT. In March this year, Sachin Dev Duggal, the company’s founder and self-proclaimed “chief wizard”, resigned as CEO.
Within months of his departure, Builder collapsed into insolvency following reports in the Financial Times and Bloomberg suggesting lenders had uncovered “potentially bogus” sales at the company, which resulted in revenue forecasts being slashed.
On Tuesday, Duggal was scheduled to appear on stage at the RAISE Summit in Paris, in what would have been his first public appearance since the company collapsed. However, organisers appear to have cancelled his appearance at the last minute.
“We had initially considered inviting Sachin on stage to gain insights into the situation and better understand what had occurred,” a RAISE spokesperson says.
“We took the numerous emails we received very seriously — including those regarding employees losing their jobs and allegations of serious fraud.
“However, given the security concerns and the fact that we did not have full clarity on the story, we ultimately decided not to move forward with featuring him at the event.”
Following his resignation in March, Duggal was replaced as CEO by Manpreet Ratia, a managing partner at Singapore-based Jungle Ventures.
After filing for insolvency, Builder declined to comment on allegations of mishandled funds, saying instead it was “focused on an orderly wind down and preserving value for our employees”.
Sifted approached Duggan and Builder for comment.
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/builder-ai-sachin-dev-duggal-raise-cancelled/
