Deval Delivala: From Uber’s early days in the US to reimagining ageing in India

(Sep 14, 2026) One of the first 20 employees at Uber which was then a startup in the US, Deval Delivala spent eight years with the organization as it expanded internationally before co-founding GetSetUp, an online learning platform for older adults. In 2025, she returned to India and co-founded WalkAbout, a community for people aged 55 and above.

Kishore Biyani, the founder of Future Group and a pioneer of modern retail in India, once compared different customer segments in India to different countries of the world. That framing has stayed with Deval, the co-founder and CEO of WalkAbout,

“The average sixty-year-old in Mumbai today wants to play pickleball, travel to Japan, start a business, and take up running, much like a sixty-year-old anywhere else in the world. The aspirations are the same everywhere, remarks the entrepreneur in a chat with The Global Indian.

Building a community for life after 55

With India’s elderly population at 153 million today and set to reach 347 million by 2050, she says that by 2046, older adults will outnumber children for the first time in our history.

“These are not abstract numbers. They are our parents, our neighbours, and, eventually, ourselves. So, my plans are about building the infrastructure that lets this generation thrive, not just survive. That means more cities, deeper communities, and spaces, both physical and virtual, where connection, purpose, and belonging come naturally. Older adults do not need to be managed. They need to be engaged.” She is building the startup with this aspect in mind.

The WalkAbout team works to bring older adults together for fitness, hobbies, learning, travel, and most importantly, friendship.

We now have over 1 lakh members across Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Chennai, and we are backed by HDFC Bank.

Deval Delivala

“The moments I am proudest of are simple ones. We hosted the first WalkAbout Senior Games in Mumbai, and we run a startup accelerator for founders over 50, who are retired professionals starting small businesses of their own. Watching a 62-year-old pitch her business at demo day tells you everything. Experience does not retire,” she mentions. “All they want is a platform to build and live their best years.” 

Inspired by her sister’s path

Born and raised in India, in a family where women traditionally did not work, it was Deval’s older sister who was the first woman in their family to graduate college and join the workforce. “Watching her carve her own path showed me it was possible to carve mine. I studied engineering at the University of Mumbai, and by graduation I had realised one important thing – I did not want to be an engineer. I joined JP Morgan in equity research, and that is where I first saw what companies like Google and YouTube were doing back in 2005. I knew I wanted to be closer to that world, so I went to UC Berkeley for my MBA, focused entirely on technology and startups,” she recalls.

From Berkeley to the early days of Uber

While the MBA at Berkeley took her to the US, her love for startups kept her there. She joined a small startup straight out of business school, which eventually led her to Uber when it had launched in only San Francisco and New York.

I was one of the first 20 employees and stayed for eight years, helping launch Uber in international markets and later heading supply growth for India, working on driver safety, vehicle financing, and leasing.

Deval Delivala

After Uber, she took a break to figure out the next chapter of her life. “Through a non-profit in India, I reconnected with Neil Dsouza, who told me about his idea to help older adults learn online. That became GetSetUp. I joined as an angel investor, then as a co-founder, and went on to lead international growth and run GetSetUp India, where we crossed a million learners in under a year. That was my introduction to working with older adults, and I never looked back,” she recalls.

In 2025, she co-founded WalkAbout, a community for people of 55 and above, with entrepreneur Ashwini Kapila, back home in India.

Seeing ageing differently

Living in the USA showed Deval one simple thing. A 65-year-old joining a hiking group or a pottery class is completely normal. In India, retirement too often means sitting at home. That contrast stayed with her and eventually became WalkAbout.

Something else Silicon Valley taught her is its attitude to failure. “Failure is not just accepted there; it is almost worn as a badge of honour for having tried something difficult. That mindset changed me. It taught me not to shy away from hard things, however hard they may be,” she avers.

Working on different markets for Uber and GetSetUp taught me that you cannot copy an idea from one place and paste it into another. People are different everywhere. You must listen first and build second. And honestly, all that time away made me appreciate home more, not less.

Deval Delivala

Deval Delivala and Ashwini Kapila, Co-Founders of WalkAbout

When people asked if seniors really wanted this

As she was building something that did not exist before, everyone had doubts. “People would ask, do seniors really want this? What we found is that older adults never lacked the desire. They lacked a safe, encouraging space. Someone would say, I know yoga, but can I really teach it online? Our job was just to say yes, you can,” she admits.

The biggest lesson in her journey has been patience. Trust with this generation takes time, but once earned, the loyalty is extraordinary. “Another hard lesson was hiring. Do not hire in a rush just because a seat is empty. Wait for people who share the passion. And being a frugal entrepreneur has shaped everything. We do not throw money at problems. We test small, learn fast, and spend only where members feel the difference,” she adds.

Uber taught speed, working with older adults taught depth

While Uber taught her speed, working with older adults taught her depth. Between the two, her idea of success has become much simpler. “Success is impact I can see: a member who found a friend, a 60-year-old who taught her first class, and a team member who grew into a role she thought was beyond her. If what you build leaves people a little better off, that is success,” she says. 

She has also learnt that the best founders do two things well: they prioritise ruthlessly, and they never shy away from a customer conversation. “I try to work that way. On leadership, I believe in doing fewer things well rather than everything poorly. And since we are building for lifelong learning, I try to embody that myself. I am always learning something new, just to keep up with our members,” she adds.

Her advice to founders: listen, build the team and stay frugal

Her advice to young people who want to be entrepreneurs is that one does not have to be the one with the idea. “My co-founder Neil had the idea for GetSetUp; my job was recognising it and helping it grow. Solve a problem you have personally felt. Take time to build the right team, because that alone sets you up for the long run. And be frugal. Experiment early and fail often before you build something big on an idea. Spend like the money is your own. Some of our best decisions at WalkAbout came from not having money to waste,” she advises.

Coming home with a different vision of ageing

Deval believes going abroad and returning back helped her see beyond the version of India she grew up watching, because she had seen what is possible by staying in a different country.

I could have accepted that ageing in India simply looks a certain way. Instead, my years outside gave me the conviction to imagine a different version and the tools to come home and build it.

Deval Delivala

Purpose, family and the life beyond work

It is also a happy coincidence that her work and giving back have merged. “Our Startup Accelerator for founders over 50 is free for participants,” she mentions.

Outside work, she loves travelling, reading, and cooking along with her husband, which is their favourite team activity. “A book I keep returning to is Being Mortal by Atul Gawande; it changed how I think about ageing. Though honestly, being an entrepreneur and a mom to two little ones allows me little time for much else these days,” she signs off.

• Follow Deval Delivala on LinkedIn 

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