Fractional CTO for
India Startups.
I help pre-seed to Series A founders in India build reliable software systems across commerce, logistics, and fintech. You get hands-on architectural ownership from an ex-Blinkit, Porter, and Urban Harvest engineering leader without full-time executive overhead.
01 ENGAGEMENT MODEL
How technical leadership
works from India.
I lead Abeta Studio from Noida, India. I do not maintain unnecessary offshore corporate bloat or proxy managers.
Direct Collaboration With उमेश (Umesh):
You work directly with me. You do not deal with sales representatives or account managers. We begin with a focused Architecture Teardown, followed by weekly sprint planning and code reviews.
Standard Commercial Guardrails:
- Direct B2B service agreements with clean work-for-hire IP assignment.
- Multi-currency invoicing payable via international bank transfer or wire.
- 3-month initial commitment followed by 30 days notice.
02 SYNCHRONOUS OVERLAP
Timezone collaboration &
daily working rhythm.
Guaranteed daily live overlap for standups, architectural debates, and unblocking pull requests.
I attend your morning standup meetings over Google Meet or Zoom to align on sprint blockers and engineering priorities.
Our teams communicate throughout the business day for rapid decisions, code review triage, and incident responses.
Architecture reviews, hiring scorecards, and schema PRs receive feedback the same business day without overnight delays.
03 PEDIGREE & DOMAIN SPECIALIZATION
12+ years in high-concurrency systems
at Indian tech leaders.
Direct operational experience leading engineering teams through rapid platform growth.
Blinkit (Eternal / Zomato)
Led engineering teams building dark store inventory tracking, basket calculation, and order routing systems for 10-minute delivery.
Porter (On-Demand Logistics)
Engineered real-time driver dispatching engines, vehicle capacity allocation, and fleet GPS telemetry ingestion pipelines.
Urban Harvest (Team: 15 to 50+)
Grew engineering team from 15 to 50+ engineers. Led development of digital lending platforms, automated underwriting, and double-entry financial ledgers.
04 LOCAL PRICING
Single source of truth
pricing for India.
Transparent pricing without artificial scarcity or surprise add-ons.
| Practice / Tier | Investment | Scope & Terms |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture Teardown | $1,500 / AED 5,500 / INR 1.25L | 48-hour diagnostic teardown identifying immediate scaling bottlenecks. |
| Architecture Audit | $5,000 | 5-day deep code, database, and cloud audit. 100% credited to any follow-on sprint. |
| Advisory Fractional CTO | $6,000 / month | Strategic steering, architecture roadmaps, and PR reviews. 3-mo min, then 30d notice. |
| Core Fractional CTO | $12,500 / month | Hands-on technical leadership, hiring rubrics, and sprint management. 3-mo min, then 30d notice. |
| CTO + Senior Pod | $35,000 – $48,000 / month | Executive CTO leadership paired with senior systems engineers. 3-mo min, then 30d notice. |
| Build Sprints | From $45,000 | Milestone-based platform development from architecture to live production. |
05 LOCAL FAQS
Frequently asked questions
for India.
Where are you located, and can we meet in person in Delhi NCR?
I am based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. For founders in Delhi NCR (Noida, Gurugram, and South Delhi), we can meet in person for architectural roadmaps. For teams across Bengaluru, Mumbai, and other cities, we collaborate over daily Google Meet sessions.
How does GST invoicing work, and can my company claim Input Tax Credit?
Yes. Invoices are issued with a valid Indian GSTIN under Indian tax rules. If your company is GST-registered in India, you can claim the full 18% GST as Input Tax Credit (ITC).
Why should an Indian founder hire a Fractional CTO instead of a full-time executive?
Hiring a full-time CTO in India often requires months of recruiting, high salaries, and substantial equity dilution. A Fractional CTO gives you 12+ years of leadership immediately. You get proven architectural direction without equity dilution.
How does your experience at Blinkit, Porter, and Urban Harvest help my startup?
I have built systems for millions of orders and real-time dispatches. I help you avoid costly mistakes in catalog design, database choice, and payment reconciliation. You launch faster with fewer bugs.
What is the minimum commitment for an ongoing engagement?
Advisory and Core Fractional CTO roles require an initial 3-month commitment. After 3 months, the contract continues on a rolling monthly basis with 30 days' notice.
Do you help us interview and hire our permanent Indian engineering team?
Yes. I create technical evaluation rubrics, review candidate portfolios, and conduct final technical interviews. I ensure you hire competent senior developers who write clean, maintainable code.
06 GET STARTED
Solidify your architecture
with executive technical leadership.
Book a direct 20-minute video session with software architect Umesh Gupta. Response promise: same business day (IST).