Medikabazaar removes former CEO Vivek Tiwari from board over financial misreporting and misappropriation

It was also revealed that Medikabazaar inflated its gross merchandise value (GMV) by over 50 percent and reported its GMV as its sales figures in FY23.

Medikabazaar, the B2B medical equipment startup that was once valued at over $500 million, has removed its founder, director and former chief executive officer Vivek Tiwari from the company’s board over alleged misreporting of financials.

The development of a fraud at yet another Indian startup comes hours after India’s capital market regulator, the securities and exchange board of India (SEBI), alleged that Gensol’s promoters Anmol Singh Jaggi and Puneet Singh Jaggi had diverted company funds for personal use and removed them as directors at the firm. 

At Medikabazaar, a regulatory filing made by Boston Ivy Healthcare Solutions Pvt. Ltd, the parent of Medikabazaar, stated: “Mr. Vivek Tiwari is involved in malicious and fraudulent activities, including those of financial mismanagement and financial fraud, which have caused irreparable harm and damage, and are alarming to the well-being of the company.”

Uniqus India, Alvarez & Marsal, and M/s Rashmikant & Partners conducted the investigation and concluded that Tiwari “has breached his fiduciary duty along with committing gross negligence, misappropriation, misstatements…and breach of trust against the company and its shareholders…”.

Responding to the claims, Tiwari, said: "I categorically deny all allegations of fraudulent conduct or intentional misrepresentation during my tenure as CEO. The claims suggesting my involvement in any alleged inflation of revenue figures are misleading, and do not reflect the reality of the situation."

"While the current narrative is unfortunate and deeply damaging, I remain confident in the truth. In the coming days, true facts will emerge, providing clarity and reaffirming my personal reputation and integrity," Tiwari added.

The developments come after PwC, in July last year, found inconsistencies in revenue recognition. It was also revealed that Medikabazaar inflated its gross merchandise value (GMV) by over 50 percent and reported its GMV as its sales figures in FY23. In FY23, the company reported revenues of around $181 million, a 2X increase year-on-year (YoY). It is yet to file its FY24 and FY25 results with the regulators.

PwC had also found several governance issues, along with the financial misreporting, all of which led to the ouster of CEO Tiwari last year. While Samsung Electronics’ Dinesh Lodha had replaced Tiwari as Medikabazaar’s CEO last year, Tiwari remained on the board until the latest developments on April 17.

Medikabazaar was once a high-flying startup and has raised over $190 million from Lighthouse, HealthQuad, Creaegis and several other marquee investors, according to data from Tracxn, a private markets data provider.

Note to readers: The story was updated to reflect the views of former CEO Vivek Tiwari which were sent hours after the story was published.