Corporate Crossings: Sequoia India hires Mohit Abraham as legal head from Travis Kalanick’s startup

Sequoia Capital India and Southeast Asia has roped in Mohit Abraham, former legal head at Uber founder Travis Kalanick’s startup CloudKitchens as chief legal officer, according to people familiar with the development, in what is a key hire for one of India’s top investors.

Abraham’s previous stints include Khaitan & Co., Uber, where he was the director of regulatory affairs for North America, and more recently as the legal head of CloudKitchens, a ghost kitchen startup founded by Kalanick.

Siddharth V. Rao, the incumbent general counsel of Sequoia Capital India, is moving to a different role within the VC firm where he will lead data and transformation initiatives, according to one of the sources cited above.

A Sequoia Capital spokesperson confirmed the development in a statement to Moneycontrol.

“We are excited to have Mohit Abraham join Sequoia Capital India and Southeast Asia as the Chief Legal Officer for the region. He has a diverse background as a corporate lawyer, an advocate on record of the Supreme Court of India, a co-founder of a law firm and has worked with tech startups globally,” the statement said.

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“His rich experience, entrepreneurial attitude and solution-oriented legal strategy will be invaluable to our founders. He takes on the role earlier handled by Siddharth V Rao, who will now lead transformation initiatives for Sequoia in India and Southeast Asia as part of the leadership team.”

Abraham's appointment as Sequoia Capital India's chief legal officer comes at a time when the company is embroiled in a legal tussle with its former general counsel, Sandeep Kapoor.

A few months ago, Sequoia, in an internal email to some of its portfolio companies, had said that it ended ties with Algo Legal, a legal firm founded by Kapoor due to ‘concerning incidents.’

A Bengaluru court is currently hearing a Rs 1 crore defamation suit filed by Algo Legal and its founder Sandeep Kapoor against Sequoia Capital and a bunch of news publications.

Abraham will undoubtedly have his hands full since his appointment comes at a time when a few Sequoia Capital portfolio companies, including BharatPe, Zilingo, and Trell, have come under fire for corporate governance lapses. BharatPe and Zilingo’s CEOs were also ousted, amid a tussle with the board and investors.