By Ishita Ganguly
Shortly after Playground AI founder Suhail Doshi accused Indian techie Soham Parekh of defrauding multiple US startups and moonlighting at them simultaneously, a post from a so-called 鈥淩eal Soham Parekh鈥 surfaced on the platform X. Parekh claims that he was 鈥減issed鈥 and had 鈥渟omething to prove.鈥 He was accused of scamming startups led by at least five US CEOs, where he had been working multiple jobs simultaneously. The techie confesses that he is 鈥渘ot proud of his actions鈥. In an interview with TBPN on YouTube, he admitted to misleading employers by working at multiple startups under false pretences. On the YouTube show hosted by John Coogan and Jordi Hays, Parekh explained that his decisions were not driven by greed but by financial necessity. He said, 鈥淚 don”t think anyone enjoys working 140 hours a week, but I had to do it because of financial conditions.鈥 Who is Soham Parekh? Playground AI founder Suhail Doshi shared the resume of Mumbai-born Soham Parekh, which shows that the techie has worked at Dynamo AI, Union AI, Synthesia and Alan AI in tech-based roles. The CV further shows that he did his bachelor’s from the University of Mumbai and his master’s from Georgia Institute of Technology (2022). But the Playground founder said, 鈥淧robably 90% fake and most links are gone.鈥 Branding him a 鈥渟cammer,鈥 Doshi even issued a public service announcement, 鈥淧SA: there”s a guy named Soham Parekh (in India) who works at 3-4 startups at the same time. He”s been preying on YC companies and more. Beware,鈥 the Playground AI founder wrote on X. However, in the interview, Parekh said he 鈥渉ad the privilege to work with鈥 those tech startups. He even shared that he was about to join a company called Darwin, he said, 鈥淭hey are essentially building a new AI-driven data platform鈥 video platform for UGC style media.鈥 Everything you need to know about Soham Parekh:鈥 Accused of working at 3-4 US startups at the same time鈥 Allegedly faked 90% of his resume鈥 Called out publicly by Mixpanel founder Suhail Doshi鈥 MS from Georgia Tech, BE from Mumbai鈥 Shipped with Union .ai,鈥 pic.twitter.com/H6GXAjJipg 鈥 Dhruv (@haildhruv) July 3, 2025 What is moonlighting? Moonlighting, or holding a second job while continuing a full-time job, has increased in India since remote work became common during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to background verification firm AuthBridge, five out of every 100 candidates have two jobs. Roughly 90 per cent of moonlighting can be found in the IT sector, mostly in Telangana, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu, as reported by the Times of India. Also read: Zoho acquires Kochi-based Asimov Robotics, opens R&D campus in Kerala (startuppedia.in)