Pankhuri Shrivastava had a pandemic wedding in December 2020, her last social post was about hiring difficulties

The women-focused social community platform, Pankhuri, on Monday revealed the cause of death of its founder Pankhuri Shrivastava.

In an attempt to end all speculations and rumours about her death, the platform shared an Instagram post that her demise on Friday (December 24) was due to a sudden cardiac arrest.

"She (Shrivastava) was a visionary in our world. Her presence will be deeply missed and her legacy is going to stay forever with us," the caption read.

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A post shared by Pankhuri (@askpankhuri)

The 32-year-old is credited for creating a brand 'Pankhuri' for women members to socialise.

Her last post on Twitter was from Thursday (December 23), a day before her sudden demise. She discussed the difficulties of evaluating and hiring a candidate after a one-hour-long interview.

Shrivastava previously founded rental start-up Grabhouse, which was later sold to online classifieds company Quikr in a cash and equity deal, in 2016.

The late entrepreneur graduated with an engineering degree from Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya in Bhopal. She also taught children in Mumbai's municipal schools under the fellowship programme of 'Teach for India'.

Last year on December 2, Shrivastava got married in a royal ceremony at Hotel Raj Mahal The Palace Orchha in Niwari district, Madhya Pradesh. She shared beautiful moments from her big day on Instagram.

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A post shared by Pankhuri Shrivastava (@pankh16)

The entire start-up community was grieving the loss of the Grabhouse founder.

Jani Pasha, co-founder and CEO of classifieds app Lokal, shared a video of Shrivastava from 10 days ago - where she is seen calling out her own name in excitement for an award.


Ranjan Anandan, Managing Director of Sequoia India, took to Twitter to express shock by this sudden loss.

The former Google India head remembered Pankhuri as a person full of life, ideas and passion. "Pankhuri had missionary zeal," his caption read.

This year in July, platform Pankhuri, founded in 2019, raised $3.2 million through Sequoia India's programme Surge.

"We loved having Pankhuri in our Surge family and we will miss you so dearly. Thoughts and prayers are with her family in this very difficult time," he wrote.

GOQii CEO Vishal Gondal said he didn't personally know Shrivastava, but celebrated her life through a Twitter thread.


Kalaari Capital founder Vani Kola also shared the news on her official handle of the micro-blogging site.

"Yesterday, it came as a shock to me when I found out that @pankhuri16 is no more. I remember her as a vivacious bright woman full of ideas and full of life. She was confident. That was something you noticed about her immediately," she tweeted.

"Her demise is a loss for our start-up ecosystem. We lost a bright and young founder, but I know her legacy will live on. It was truly a privilege to know Pankhuri. My heart reaches out to her family at this untimely tragedy," she added.