The development comes just days after Chawla announced that he was shutting down the startup
Chawla indicated towards a “frivolous” complaint being filed against the startup, which led to this chaos. Details about this alleged complaint have not yet been released publicly
Founded in 2021 by Chawla, Jeevan Prakash and Lavelesh Sharma, Wherehouse.io offered a network of micro-warehouses for consumer brands for faster deliveries
Update| December 25, 4:05 pm IST
Days after Wherehouse.io cofounder Vaibhav Chawla was detained by the Delhi Police, he said in a statement that the startup has entered into discussions with its client with which it had a dispute for a reconciliation and settlement process.
Here’s the full statement issued by Chawla:
“This is my statement, issued voluntarily in light of the recent events involving Wherehouse and client – Curio Lifestyle. My LinkedIn post-dated 30 November 2025 did not name Curio Lifestyle, but it created a misleading impression that has affected them.
Curio Lifestyle had made multiple attempts since June to resolve the matter amicably. But I chose to terminate the contract with them and send a termination email within the scope of the agreement. At the time of my post, Curio Lifestyle’s perishable stock and some pending settlements were in Wherehouse possession that had not yet been reconciled or returned.
The posts on social media implying improper conduct by Curio Lifestyle, or suggesting that their complaint caused hardship to Wherehouse or affected my team, were not accurate. Any operational or financial issues faced by Wherehouse were internal matters.
I have now begun a reconciliation and settlement process with Curio Lifestyle, and they have agreed to continue this process in good faith. Although I cannot undo the impact of my statements and various posts on social media and news portals. I will ensure that any further misinformation is strictly avoided going forward.
I understand that my post directly or indirectly contributed to misinformation and unfair criticism directed at Curio Lifestyle and its leadership and stakeholders. I regret this and apologise for the harm caused.
I retract my earlier statements in full and request all individuals and platforms who shared or relied upon them to delete and correct their content.”
Notably, Curio Lifestyle, founded in 2022, is a D2C brand that sells organic and natural food products like cold-pressed oils, raw honey, grains, dairy, nuts, seeds, snacks, and beverages.
Original | December 2, 8:13 pm IST
Supply chain intelligence startup Wherehouse.io’s cofounder Vaibhav Chawla was detained by the Delhi Police for unspecified reasons and released hours later, sources told Inc42.
The development comes just days after Chawla announced that he was shutting down the startup.
In a LinkedIn post, Chawla said that the Wherehouse.io team was also questioned and detained by authorities. “The team of Wherehouse was detained without any documents, only to be released after families showed up at the police station,” Chawla alleged in the post.
“Wherehouse means nothing if we can’t protect the very people who built it,” he added.
The reason and details of the detention remain undisclosed. The story will be updated on receiving additional information about the case.
However, in his LinkedIn post, Chawla indicated towards a “frivolous” complaint being filed against the startup, which led to this chaos. Details about this alleged complaint have not yet been released publicly.
“We have written to anyone and everyone we could think of help but we have lost the battle here. It’s not worth fighting for. In the due course of months, we would proceed with transition of brands and teams and prepare for what comes next,” Chawla added.
Founded in 2021 by Chawla, Jeevan Prakash and Lavelesh Sharma, Wherehouse.io offered a network of micro-warehouses for consumer brands for faster deliveries.
The startup claimed to have a presence in more than 20 cities with around 2,500 operational warehouses. The startup was backed by the likes of Better Capital, Titan Capital and Java Capital, but hadn’t raised funds since its seed round in 2021.
The story will be updated once more information is available about the detention as well as the official reasons for the same.
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