Second founder Bhavik Koladiya quits BharatPe, months after Ashneer Grover's exit

Bhavik Koladiya, one of the founders of fintech unicorn BharatPe who was working with the company as a consultant overseeing its technology and product functions, has quit.

This comes months after the acrimonious exit of Ashneer Grover following weeks of an ugly and public spat between the company's management and the managing director after a forensic audit alleged misappropriation of funds.

“Bhavik Koladiya has been associated with BharatPe as an Independent Consultant, guiding our Product and Technology teams. His contract tenure ended on July 31, 2022 and he expressed his desire to spend time on other assignments outside BharatPe,” the company said in a statement on August 2.

“Bhavik has been one of our biggest advocates and has been an integral part of our journey in becoming one of India’s largest fintech companies. While we wish him the very best, we are also sure that he will continue to guide us in the future as well, as and when we need,” it added.

Koladiya said BharatPe was one of his largest investments and he would continue to stay invested in the company for the foreseeable future.

“I have been relentlessly at it for five years. I want to focus on balancing my work and family. I am a zero-to-one guy who likes to keep innovating with new ideas. From the day I and Shashvat founded BharatPe, we have always believed and worked towards making BharatPe into a movement that will outlive and outgrow our own ambitions," he said.

Mint was first to report the development earlier in the day.

When the spat broke out between Grover and BharatPe management earlier this year, an audio recording had surfaced in which Koladiya and Grover had a heated exchange.

Later, news reports said Grover had been holding some shares of BharatPe on Koladiya's behalf.  While Grover denied any such arrangement, Koladiya did not comment on the matter.

BharatPe has seen a number of senior employees quit in the last couple of months. As reported by Moneycontrol, the company's founding member Satyam Nathani resigned in June. Nathani's resignation came just days after the exits of chief revenue officer Nishit Sharma and head of institutional debt partnerships Chandrima Dhar. ​

Nathani was instrumental in building the company's tech products and the backbone of the tech team. An IIT Delhi dropout, Nathani joined BharatPe straight out of college and led the building of the first prototype BharatPe QR code besides other offerings like pay later product PostPe and peer-to-peer lending product 12% Club.