BharatPe sees four leadership exits, including tech, product and PostPe leads

Representative image.

Merchant payments and financial services fintech BharatPe said on November 28 that four of the company’s senior executives have exited to pursue their entrepreneurial interests, including chief technology officer Vijay Aggarwal, chief product officer for lending and consumer products Rajat Jain, and Nehul Malhotra, head of consumer lending platform PostPe.

Geetanshu Singla, who served as the Vice President of technology too has moved on, the company added.

The exit comes in a year when Tiger Global and Sequoia-backed BharatPe saw the controversial exit of founder Ashneer Grover. Grover’s exit was followed by co-founder Bhavik Koladia leaving the company in April.

These fresh exits also come at a time when the startup is building Unity Small Finance Bank, formerly PMC Bank, which was acquired through a joint venture between BharatPe and Centrum Financial Services. In August, the company also saw the exit of founding member Satyam Nathani, who along with Koladia was key to building the company’s tech backbone.

"We confirm that Vijay, Rajat, Nehul and Geetanshu are moving on from BharatPe to pursue their entrepreneurial passions," BharatPe said.

The statement further added, "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. We wish them all the best, and would continue to cheer for them as they build their next ventures."

After Grover’s exit, BharatPe has been working towards strengthening its leadership as well as board, besides focusing on following better corporate governance practices. CEO Suhail Sameer has said that the startup is aiming for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the coming years and the leadership additions are a part of the pursuit.

"BharatPe has an incredible leadership bench, and has continued to strengthen and build it over the last 12 months, with key senior hires in Product, Technology, Data Science, Finance and HR," the company's statement added.

In August, BharatPe appointed former SBI Cards chief financial officer Nalin Negi as its CFO. The company also appointed former Reckitt global executive Smriti Handa as Chief Human Resources Officer to focus on strengthening the organisational culture and HR practices.

Grover and his wife, Madhuri Jain Grover, left the company amid allegations of misappropriation of funds and encouraging a toxic work culture, making Handa's appointment a crucial signal towards reforming the workplace.

In September, the company appointed former RBI deputy governor BP Kanungo and Zomato Chairman Kaushik Dutta as independent directors, in line with the requirements to go public.