BharatPe continues to see top-level exits

Nehul Malhotra, head of buy-now-pay-later product, PostPe; Vijay Aggarwal, chief technology officer; Rajat Jain, chief product officer for lending and consumer products, and Geetanshu Singla, vice president, technology, have resigned.

BharatPe confirmed the development.

“We confirm that Vijay, Rajat, Nehul and Geetanshu are moving on from BharatPe to pursue their entrepreneurial passions. They will continue to ensure smooth transition of their role to the designated leaders. While it is difficult to part ways with these fantastic leaders, we are also proud of them for having taken the entrepreneurial plunge,” a BharatPe spokesperson said in response to ET’s queries.
The company had roped in Malhotra in September last year to lead its consumer lending division, while Aggarwal has been CTO since March 2020. Jain and Singla came on board in 2019.

Financial daily Mint was the first to report the development on Monday.

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In August, one of its cofounders, Bhavik Koladiya, moved on, while in June, senior executive Satyam Nathani, who had been part of BharatPe since its early days, also quit.

Nathani oversaw several technology functions, including the launch of the company’s newer offerings – PostPe, and 10% Club, among others.

ET reported on June 8 citing sources that two other senior executives at the fintech firm, chief revenue officer Nishit Sharma and head of institutional debt Chandrima Dhar, had left citing personal reasons.

BharatPe has been under intense investor and media scrutiny after cofounder Ashneer Grover in January sought damages from Kotak Mahindra Bank managing director Uday Kotak, alleging that the lender refused him financing for a personal investment in omnichannel beauty retailer Nykaa’s Initial Public Offering last November.

At the end of January, BharatPe’s board hired independent auditors A&M and PricewaterhouseCoopers after receiving complaints from an internal whistle-blower on alleged financial malpractices and corporate misgovernance at the firm.

This led to the ouster of the company’s head of controls and Grover’s wife, Madhuri Jain.
Grover resigned from the company and its board in March.

“Good people don’t work for companies. They work with magical founders to create, build and grow! There is no
BharatPe without Ashneer Grover,” Grover said in a tweet on Monday afternoon.

The company has been gearing up for a public market listing in the next 18-24 months.

It has raised over $650 million in equity and debt till date, and counts Tiger Global, Steadfast Capital, Sequoia Capital, Coatue Management, Ribbit Capital and Beenext among its investors.

It was last valued at $2.85 billion in August 2021.