Suhail Sameer, the chief govt of BharatPe, will go away the highest function later this week because the Indian fintech startup scrambles to steer the ship after kicking out its founder final yr for allegedly misusing firm funds.
The New Delhi-headquartered startup, backed by Sequoia India, Tiger International, Coatue, Dragoneer and Ribbit Capital, stated Sameer will transition to a strategic advisor function on January 7 and the present chief monetary officer Nalin Negi will take over because the interim chief govt.
“We now have acknowledged the necessity to dedicate time and assets to discovering the chief who will proceed to catapult BharatPe to new heights, and we’re grateful for the dedication from Suhail and Nalin. We sit up for supporting Nalin Negi in his function because the interim-CEO, as we transfer forward in our mission of empowering hundreds of thousands of MSMEs with a variety of world-class monetary merchandise,” stated Rajnish Kumar, Chairman of BharatPe Board, in a press release.
The transfer follows BharatPe founder Ashneer Grover being compelled to resign final yr after a reasonably odd public showdown with the startup’s board, which alleged that he had misused firm funds. The startup additionally sued Grover and his spouse, Madhuri Jain, for damages value $10.7 million final month.
Sameer took over because the CEO within the second half of 2021. As the connection between the 2 soured, Grover alleged that Sameer had turn out to be the “board’s puppet” because the startup probed allegations of frauds in opposition to Grover.
Indian newspaper Mint first reported about Sameer’s departure earlier Tuesday.
Sameer’s departure is the most recent in a sequence of setbacks on the Indian fintech, which as soon as gave stiff competitors to incumbents with its QR-code and funds options to retailers. As soon as fast-growing fintech, which was valued at $2.85 billion and has raised over $580 million to this point, continues to reel from the drama surrounding its founder’s ouster and has turn out to be the clown automotive of the Indian startup ecosystem.
Rajnish Kumar, former chairman of State Financial institution of India, has sought to revamp the startup’s administration and management groups up to now two years however whether or not his guess will payoff stays unclear.