Tag: Ashneer Grover

BharatPe: How is it Making QR Code and UPI Payments Accessible?

Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations.

Suffering from code-based payments? At times servers go down and you are unable to make your payment, right? Merchants, retailers, customers, and myriad other businesses and businessmen often suffer from such issues. Embracing digital payment methods is not always smooth though it appears to be most often.

Anyways, now with BharatPe, you can approach your digital payment requirements easily and conveniently without any hassles. Read the BharatPe success story brought out by StartupTalky, which includes the Founders and Team, History, Business Model, Revenue Model, Funding and Investors, Growth, Competitors, Tagline, Slogan and Logo, and more!

Company Highlights

Startup Name	Bharatpe
Headquarters	Delhi, India
Sector	Fintech
Founders	Ashneer Grover,Bhavik Koladiya, Shashvat Nakrani
Founded	April 2018
Website	bharatpe.com

About BharatPe
BharatPe – Founders and Team
BharatPe – How Does It Work?
BharatPe – Name, Tagline and Logo
BharatPe – Business Model
BharatPe – Revenue Model
BharatPe – Funding And Investors
BharatPe – Shareholding
BharatPe – Growth and Revenue
BharatPe – Financials
BharatPe – Products and Features Launch
BharatPe – Challenges and Controversies
BharatPe – Partnerships
BharatPe – Marketing Campaign
BharatPe – Competitors
BharatPe – Future Goals

About BharatPe

BharatPe Growth By Helping Merchants

BharatPe is a QR code-based payment app for offline businessmen and retailers. The company has its headquarters in New Delhi, but there are around five more offices of BharatPe across the country. The app, which allows its users to accept UPI payments for free through the BharatPe QR code, is hugely beneficial for small merchants and Kirana stores and their owners. Along with offering easy and interoperable QR codes for effortless UPI payments, BharatPe also extends Bharat Swipe (POS machine) for card acceptance and small business financing. Furthermore, the company also offers merchant loans of up to Rs 7 lakhs that can be availed for a duration of 3 to 12 months.

BharatPe also owns a peer-to-peer lending platform called 12% Club. BharatPe also launched the Digital Gold product in 2020. This will allow the users to transact for 24-carat gold with 99.5% purity.

The BharatPe app powered by efficient QR code payments helps its users to sign in immediately, and instantly start receiving the funds in their bank account. BharatPe started with a mission to make payments free for all its users. Its intention is to help all.

BharatPe – Founders and Team

BharatPe’s founders were Ashneer Grover, Bhavik Koladiya, and Shashvat Nakrani. However, with Ashneer’s resignation dated February 28, 2022, BharatPe listed Bhavik and Shashvat as its co-founders. Bhavik Koladiya resigned, months after Ashneer Grover was terminated, as per reports dated August 2, 2022.

BharatPe was initially founded by Shashvat Nakrani and Bhavik Koladiya, each of whom owned 50% of the company shares. It was Koladiya, who served as the face of the company and negotiated with the investors for funding. Then, Ashneer Grover joined in June 2018, 3 months later. He was the third founder of BharatPe. However, with Grover joining the company, BharatPe’s shareholding structure changed. It then granted Grover a 32% stake, Nakrani a 25.5% stake, and Koladiya held the largest stake (42.5%).

However, Koladiya’s name went missing from the founder’s list of BharatPe in December 2018, before Sequoia came on board. This is because the investors refrained from investing in a company whose co-founder was convicted in a US court in 2015. Koladiya was involved previously in a credit card fraud. Since then, Ashneer Grover was made the face of the company.

Ashneer Grover

Ashneer Grover served as the MD and the co-founder of BharatPe until he resigned from the company and relinquished his position on February 28, 2022. Ashneer is from South Delhi, India, and is a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. He was once the new head of new business at PCJ. Furthermore, he headed Corp Dev for Amex India. He was also previously appointed as the CFO of Grofers.

Ashneer Grover had been in the news after his voice matched with a caller who reportedly hurled abusive language and was thoroughly threatening and ill-tempered while talking with a Kotak Wealth Management employee over the failure to secure financing for Nykaa’s initial share sale. Grover had then been asked by the company, BharatPe’s board, to take a voluntary absence for two months on January 19, 2022. However, this was not due to his telephone controversy but due to a bigger financial fraud to which he was allegedly connected. Grover was then put on a mandatory leave of absence. This did not only concern Grover but also his wife Madhuri and five others. His wife, Madhuri Jain Grover was also put on leave amidst the government probe. Madhuri Jain Grover, the wife of Ashneer Grover, who had headed the Controls at BharatPe, was finally terminated from her services due to financial irregularities, as per reports dated February 23, 2022. This termination meant that she had to part with her stakes in the company due to “misappropriation of finances”.

Madhuri Jain on one occasion after her termination, accused the company co-founder Bhavik Koladiya and CEO Suhail Sameer of merry-making inside the office premises, saying that both of them, along with Shashvat Nakrani, can indulge in their “drunken orgies” without her in the office, while referring herself as a “righteous lady.” Furthermore, Madhuri Jain Grover also took a jab at the BharatPe Board of Directors, where she termed them “male chauvinists” along with accusing them of “objectifying women”.

The Founder and MD Ashneer Grover was on the radar of the news and media for a long time. This was not only for the lowering standards and the toxic culture that Bharatpe exhibits, neither it related to the rude behavior of Ashneer on the Shark Tank show or on the call with a Kotak employee, which Ashneer tried to convince as fake, the financial misconduct seemed a really big thing, which was under scrutiny on behalf of the Board. The figure for the misconduct was reported to be in double-digit crores, as per the reports and the return of Grover to his position or back to the office seemed like a remote possibility. Yes, the reports that BharatPe will likely fire Grover, were ripe since the end of January 2022, according to close sources. BharatPe had appointed Alvarez & Marsal, a risk advisory firm to conduct an independent audit of the startup’s internal processes and systems on January 31, 2022. Reports also confirmed that Ashneer Grover approached legal aid in the form of Karanjawala & Co., a law firm from Delhi NCR, to secure his position in the company and keep his shareholding of 9.5% intact in the firm as per reported news of December 2022.

The Ex-co-founder and MD of Bharatpe, then demanded Rs 4,000 crore from the investors to buy him out, which implied that he needed to be paid a fair market value for his 9.5% stake in the company at a valuation of around $6 billion. “Either I’ll run the company or they buy me out; there is no third option,” said Ashneer. However, as the events unfolded, the rejection of his arbitration pleas by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) and the key investors turned down Ashneer Grover’s offer of selling out his 9.5% stake in the company, and he had to leave the organization. According to the BharatPe board, the resignation of the Founder and MD came minutes after he received the Board meeting’s agenda, which will include the PWC report submission containing the conduct of Grover and the actions that will be taken against him. However, even while he resigned from the company, the former MD and Co-founder of Bharatpe claimed that he would continue to be the “single largest individual shareholder of the company.”

The Ex-BharatPe Founder and MD has disclosed that it has registered a new company where both he and his wife, will be Directors. The company has reportedly been registered as Third Unicorn Private Limited, which they registered on July 6, 2022, with dreams of raising another unicorn company, as per Tofler reports.

Shashvat Nakrani took a dig at the Ex-co-founder and MD Ashneer Grover, by stating that the latter has created a false narrative about the company. This is one of the few occasions where Nakrani has spoken openly about anything. Shashvat had earlier backed BharatPe CEO Suhail Sameer when Grover remarked that he should be expelled from the company. Nakrani has also added that now that they have ended the boardroom fiasco, they should focus on building while staying careful about keeping the culture of the company untainted.

Bhavik Koladiya

Bhavik Koladiya is another co-founder of BharatPe, who is popularly known as the Group Head of product and Technology.

Bhavik Koladiya faced disagreements with the BharatPe management, primarily Suhail Sameer (CEO of BharatPe), which is why he resigned from the company, in June 2022.

Shashvat Nakrani

Shashvat Nakrani is also the co-founder of BharatPe. He is an IIT Delhi student, batch 2015-19, who got a bachelor’s degree in Textile Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. His hometown is Bhavnagar, India.

Nalin Negi is currently the CEO of BharatPe, which presently operates with 201-500 employees.

BharatPe – How Does It Work?

As you all know almost all the merchants spend more time on the app BharatPe. Lending businesses are always crucial matter it’s small ones or big ones. So, BharatPe’s lending business is also crucial like the others.

It operates an eponymous service to help all offline merchants. However, such kind of payment apps nearly make no money by enabling free transactions on their platforms. Those processing UPI payments can not even charge a small commission to merchants. The BharatPe login and interface are also easy to use. BharatPe credit card can also be created after the merchant account.

BharatPe – Name, Tagline and Logo

It has launched India’s first UPI Bahi Khata for merchants. It’s the first Fintech startup in India to enable merchants to pay offline. The BharatPe logo is the property of the trademark owners.

BharatPe logo

BharatPe – Business Model

The BharatPe business is an Indian QR code-based payments company that operates on a B2B2C model because it helps the customers as well as the merchants or shop owners/retailers and other businessmen/women. The company’s app accepts payments from 100+ mobile apps downloaded the Indian mobiles on India’s UPI system by offering businesses a single interoperable QR sticker as per various report news in February 2022.

The QR can be scanned and then payments are accepted from all renowned mobile apps such as Paytm, WhatsApp, Mobikwik, Amazon Pay, BHIM, Google Pay, Freecharge, and TrueCaller. Retailers also get immediate credits for transactions made in their bank accounts on the same day.

In 2021, the cricketers Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina, Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw, Sanju Samson, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Shubhman Gill were signed as BharatPe brand ambassadors.

BharatPe – Revenue Model

The BharatPe revenue model depends on providing its consumers with a digital payments platform and also has a separate app for its merchant friends where the company credits them for their transactions digitally as mentioned above. It actually sails for providing credits to the merchants with cheaper interests.

The company counts on the interdependent cyclical connection of credit and application usage to boost the revenue on its platform. For a startup company like BharatPe, it’s important for them to focus especially on the merchant side of their business.

Bharape Merchant Club

BharatPe – Funding And Investors

BharatPe has secured a total of $808.4 million in funding across 14 rounds. The most recent funding was raised through a Debt Financing round on December 11, 2024.

Here are the funding details of BharatPe:

Date	Transaction Name	Money Raised	Lead Investors
December 11, 2024	Debt Financing	Rs 100 crore	–
July 30, 2024	Debt Financing	Rs 85 crore	Trifecta Capital Advisors
January 19, 2024	Debt Financing	$100 million	InnoVen Capital
October 25, 2021	Debt Financing	Rs 100 crore	MAS Financial Services Private Limited
August 19, 2021	Debt Financing	$27 million	–
August 4, 2021	Series E	$350 million	Tiger Global Management
May 10, 2021	Debt Financing	Rs 50 crore	Northern Arc
February 11, 2021	Series D	$108 million	Coatue Management
January 6, 2021	Debt Financing	Rs 60 crore	Innoven Capital
October 6, 2020	Grant	Rs 500K	Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT)
February 24, 2020	Series C	$75 million	Coatue and Rabbit Capital
June 4, 2019	Series B	$50 million	Insight Partners, Rabbit Capital
February 21, 2019	Series A	$14.5 million	Peak XV Partners

After the posts vacated by Ashneer and his wife, Madhuri Grover, and the end of the boardroom spat, BharatPe Chairman, Rajnish Kumar asserted on April 2, 2022, that the company will likely bring an IPO in the next 18-24 months.

BharatPe – Shareholding

BharatPe’s shareholding pattern as of March 2023, sourced from Tracxn:

BharatPe Shareholders	Percentage
Ashneer Grover	8.4%
Shashvat Nakrani	4.8%
Bhavik Koladiya	2.3%
Sequoia Capital	18.7%
Ribbit Capital	10.7%
Coatue	13.7%
Beenext	9.1%
Tiger Global Management	3.5%
Steadview	3.9%
Amplo	3.3%
Steadfast Financial	0.9%
ABG Capital	0.5%
Dragoneer Investment Group	0.9%
Angel List	0.3%
QED Innovation	0.1%
Redwood Trust	0.1%
Venture Catalysts	0.1%
Grace Software Holdings	9.2%
Insight Partners	2.1%
Saam Partners	0.1%
Angel	0.2%
Other People	0.4%
ESOP Pool	6.7%
Total	100.0%

BharatPe – Growth and Revenue

The BharatPe news and recent studies say that the company is growing rapidly and presently it’s the 4th largest player in the UPI portion after Google Pay, PhonePe, and PayTm as of December 2021. And the company has achieved this growth by spending very little money on it. BharatPe is in the 3rd spot in the private POS category as of January 2022.

Furthermore, it has also helped the company scale up its business rapidly and contributed around 20% to the overall payments Transaction Processed Value (TPV) of the company. BharatPe has installed over 1 lacs BharatSwipe machines across 16 cities in the country that supports transactions of over Rs 1,400 crore every month as per various reports of July 2021. Furthermore, it has also received an overwhelming response from small merchants across segments including Kirana store owners, restaurant owners, and entrepreneurs with 4-5 outlets.

The lending vertical of BharatPe has exponentially increased over the last 1.5 years. The company has already been successful in disbursing over $300 million in unsecured loans to 2 lacs+ merchant partners, with an outstanding loan book of over $100 million as per various report news in August, 2021.

Furthermore, the company has been estimated to have boarded around 24 lacs+ merchant members on its platform, when reported towards the end of FY20. This came at a cost though.

BharatPe – Financials

BharatPe has seen significant revenue growth over the years, increasing from INR 22.4 crore in FY20 to INR 1,167.5 crore in FY23. However, the company continues to report losses, with expenses consistently exceeding revenue.

Particulars	FY23	FY22	FY21	FY20	FY19
Revenue	INR 1,167.5 crore	INR 680.2 crore	INR 185 crore	INR 22.4 crore	INR 0 crore
Expenses	INR 2,108.5 crore	INR 6,296.7 crore	INR 1,804 crore	INR 934.6 crore	INR 23 crore
Profit/Loss for the Year	INR -927 crore	INR -5,610.8 crore	INR -1,619.2 crore	INR -912.2 crore	INR -23 crore

BharatPe’s revenue nearly doubled from INR 680.2 crore in FY22 to INR 1,167.5 crore in FY23, but the company continued to report losses, reducing from INR 5,610.8 crore in FY22 to INR 927 crore in FY23.

BharatPe Revenue:

Revenue Breakdown	FY23	FY22
Revenue from Operations	INR 1,029 crore	INR 456.8 crore
Other Income	INR 138.5 crore	INR 223.4 crore
Total Revenue	INR 1,167.5 crore	INR 680.2 crore

BharatPe’s revenue from operations more than doubled from INR 456.8 crore in FY22 to INR 1,029 crore in FY23, while other income declined from INR 223.4 crore to INR 138.5 crore.

BharatPe Expenses:

Expense Breakdown	FY23	FY22
Employee Benefits	INR 304.4 crore	INR 184.8 crore
Finance Costs	INR 11.7 crore	INR 54.2 crore
Amortization & Depreciation	INR 106.3 crore	INR 38.1 crore
Other Expenses	INR 1,686.1 crore	INR 6,019.7 crore
Total Expenses	INR 2,108.5 crore	INR 6,296.7 crore

BharatPe significantly reduced total expenses from INR 6,296.7 crore in FY22 to INR 2,108.5 crore in FY23, mainly due to a decline in other expenses, which dropped from INR 6,019.7 crore to INR 1,686.1 crore.

BharatPe Profit/Loss:

Profit/Loss Breakdown	FY23	FY22
Gross Profit	INR -941 crore	INR -5,616.6 crore
Operating Profit	INR -941 crore	INR -5,616.6 crore
Net Profit/(Loss)	INR -927 crore	INR -5,610.8 crore

Losses narrowed from INR 5,610.8 crore in FY22 to INR 927 crore in FY23, indicating a move towards cost optimization despite rising employee benefits and amortization expenses.

Quick Summary:

Revenue Growth: 71.7% increase in total revenue from FY22 to FY23.
Expense Reduction: Major cut in expenses from INR 6,296.7 crore in FY22 to INR 2,108.5 crore in FY23.
Loss Reduction: Losses significantly reduced from INR 5,610.8 crore in FY22 to INR 927 crore in FY23, showing improved financial management.
Key Business Implication: While BharatPe is still in losses, the decline in expenses and improved revenue indicate a shift toward a more sustainable business model.

BharatPe – Products and Features Launch

BharatSwipe

It launched BharatSwipe, its disruptive card payment acceptance machine in the latter half of 2020. BharatSwipe is a zero rental Swipe machine, which is the first of such systems that India has seen, and therefore, it received an overwhelming response right from its inception. The overall business of BharatPe received a huge boost with the introduction of BharatSwipe. The network of the POS business (BharatSwipe) has grown by 25X and has been made available to over 250 cities in the last 12 months, as confirmed by a BharatPe PR dated March 14, 2022. The BharatPe PR also mentioned that the company has already been successful in deploying 1.25 lakh+ BharatSwipe machines across offline shops. BharatPe has achieved such a feat in a short span of around 1.5 years, which is really laudable and can be hailed as a remarkable scale-up of the POS business.

Gold loans for merchant partners

Bharatpe forayed into the secured gold loans segment by announcing the launch of gold loans for its merchant partners on March 14, 2022. The fintech company collaborated with RBI-approved NBFCs to offer gold loans up to Rs 20 lacs. Furthermore, the rates of gold loans by BharatPe will be competitive to the core at 0.39%.

Loan Application Process for the Merchants

If you are wondering about the loan application process, then the process to apply for loans will be completely digital. Here the merchants applying for loans would be able to view the best offers for them and then apply for the gold loans via the BharatPe app. These loans will be disbursed within 30 minutes after the assessment process of BharatPe is completed. The Suhail Sameer-led fintech company is offering a branch collection facility and a doorstep service as well, all of which are in partnership with the NBFC partners. The merchants would be able to opt for loans for a duration of 6, 9, and 12 months and can repay them via Easy Daily Instalments (EDI).

Investment Platform

For its merchant partners, the company introduced an investment platform in May 2022. According to the press release note, the company will launch P2P investments and bank deposit products for its merchant partners in the initial phase.

Payback(Zillion)

Payback has been rebranded as Zillion in May 2023. Zillion will provide customers with a variety of choices for earning and redeeming at a variety of partners across the nation.

12% Club

BharatPe has partnered with the NBFCs, which are approved by the RBI, to launch the 12% Club, the first-of-its-kind investment, consumer lending, and borrowing app. The 12% Club app is a significant step forward into the consumer space for BharatPe and will be a huge benefit for the customers. By the end of the fiscal year 2021, BharatPe looked to have an AUM of $100 million and a lending AUM of $50 million from the 12% Club app.

BharatPe – Challenges and Controversies

BharatPe Pending Employee Salaries: The Boardroom Battle Turned into a Keyboard Fight

BharatPe is yet to pay a number of its employees, notes Karan Sarki, Senior Associate IT at BharatPe on April 6, 2022. Sarki has blamed the company for not paying their employees including those who have been right from the start of the company. Besides, Karan also mentioned that all of the old admin and staff of BharatPe have been terminated without any reason and have not even been paid off. What’s more interesting here is the reply of the Ex-Founder and MD of BharatPe, Ashneer Grover, who asked Suhail Sameer and Hersimran Kaur to look into the matter. Here is the LinkedIn post of Karan Sarki:

The boardroom spat that BharatPe became famous for, has been dragged to Twitter now, which has become the ground for a keyboard battle. The reason was Karan Sarki’s comment where Ashneer Grover replied, which was eventually followed by Aashima Grover, the sister of Ashneer Grover, and the CEO, Suhail Sameer. After Ashneer and Aashima’s post that blamed the management of BharatPe including Suhail Sameer, the CEO replied that Ashneer had stolen all the money and that only a small amount was left to pay the employees. Sameer, in conclusion, apologized for his earlier comment on the thread and mentioned that the employees’ salaries have already begun to be paid out in full and final, and the other employees’ pending payments would also be cleared and have further requested the employees to keep from building stories.

BharatPe Fined Again for Invoices to Fake Vendors

The fintech unicorn has been on the radar of the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGGI) for many months now, where the governing body is scrutinizing the financial data of BharatPe. The company, which was fined by DCGI in October 2021, was fined again for an amount close to Rs 1.5 crore because of the reports that state that the company has generated invoices for non-existent vendors. BharatPe has to deposit Rs 12.5 crore in total. The Suhail Sameer-led company had to deposit Rs 11.5 crore on the earlier occasion as a penalty.

Ashneer Grover Claimed that the Gold Loan Vertical Launch was his Brainchild

After BharatPe had shook off the influence of Ashneer Grover when finally the BharatPe co-founder and MD resigned from the company days after his wife Madhuri was fired by the Board, BharatPe had another controversy. This is after the fintech company announced its plans for disbursing gold loans to merchants. The ex-MD Ashneer Grover has again targeted the CEO, Suhail Sameer, claiming that the idea of launching the gold loans vertical was his and it was Sameer who is credited for the same. Grover claimed that he brought Nikhilesh, who was Grover’s colleague back in Kotak and PC Jewellers to foray into the gold loans segment one year back. Along with this, Grover also added that there is an array of other products like the:

Merchant Stock Option Plan – This was ‘supposed to go live by January 2022’ but has not been launched by the fintech giant even in March 2022.
3 Month customer interest-free EMI product – BharatPe was to launch the ‘3 Month customer interest-free EMI product’, which was designed to counter the already existing ‘UNI Cards,’ and would thus, have enabled the fintech major “to help merchants sell items to customers on EMI without the need for a PoS machine.”
UNITY small finance bank depositors – Along with these, Ex-BharatPe MD also mentioned that the UNITY small finance bank depositors were to be provided with a digital interface without which they are highly impeded from accessing their funds. This was also not done by the fintech company.

Grover again took to the media after he was hit because of the Porsche Cayman that he owned after his issue of financial misconduct at BharatPe was ripe. In response, Grover had already criticized Suhail Sameer for buying a BMW Z4 convertible ‘within a year of joining BharatPe’.

Controversies earlier arose when a Bloomberg report, quoting sources, stated that Grover had spent Rs 1 crore on his dining table, which he told his coworkers. Grover even responded to this by tweeting a photo of his dining table and saying that it was ‘not even worth 0.5%’ of the alleged amount as of March 2022.

BharatPe – Acquistion

BharatPe has acquired two companies. The most recent acquisition was TrillianLoans, which was worth $36.05 million, on March 21, 2023.

Company Name	Date	Amount
TrillianLoans	March 21, 2023	$36.05 million
Payback	Jun 10, 2021	$27 million

BharatPe – Partnerships

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)

BharatPe has partnered with NPCI on March 2023. Bharatpe following a recent move by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to link RuPay credit cards to UPI, has joined forces to facilitate credit card transactions on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in India. Through UPI, the project intends to offer clients a quick payment experience along with the advantages of short-term credit and rewards provided by credit cards.

Women Entrepreneurship Platform

In March 2023, BharatPe and Women Entrepreneurship Platform announced their partnership, which will help women all around India on their path to independence and economic growth.

BharatPe – Marketing Campaign

BharatPe Lagao Dhandha Badhao

BharatPe Campaign

‘BharatPe Lagao, World Cup Jao’ is an innovative competition that BharatPe, India’s top financial company for merchants, has launched for its merchant partners. In order to support India in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021, BharatPe has offered with its BharatPe QR merchants the chance to travel to Dubai for two days on the company’s dime as part of the campaign.

BharatPe – Competitors

BharatPe competitors are:

BharatPe – Future Goals

BharatPe, a fintech startup primarily focused on merchant payments, is planning to expand its offerings by launching mutual funds and insurance as its next major product lines. The company aims to evolve into a full-stack financial services platform, according to CEO Nalin Negi.

BharatPe says that there will be rising demands of the shopkeepers, so, to develop their app further and to uplift its performance is their next plan. The company also disbursed around Rs 140 crore. The founder of the company said that there has been no development in the loan demand of the shopkeepers recently so they plan to move forward with it and they think that rental payments and stocking up for inventory payments will soon rise.

FAQs

What is BharatPe app?

A pioneer in UPI payments and digital money lending for merchants. It is a payment solution application exclusively designed for merchants that can accept payments from any UPI payment app through a single BharatPe QR Code.

Who are BharatPe founders?

BharatPe founders initially were Ashneer Grover, Bhavik Koladiya, and Shashvat Nakrani. However, Ashneer Grover resigned from the company on February 28, 2022, and relinquished his designation of Co-founder and Managing Director of the firm. Now, Bhavik Koladiya also resigned, as per reports dated August 2, 2022, after facing disagreements with the BharatPe CEO, Suhail Sameer.

Is BharatPe a government company?

No. BharatPe is a private fintech company.

Who is the owner of BharatPe?

The former Co-founders Ashneer Grover, Bhavik Koladiya, and Shashvat Nakrani, is the owner of BharatPe.

What is BharatPe Balance?

BharatPe Balance gives the user information on their daily QR collections, balance in investment account, and their available loan limit.

How does BharatPe make money/BharatPe revenue model?

BharatPe makes money through transaction fees, interest on loans, merchant services, and card partnerships.

What is BharatPe launch date?

BharatPe was launched in April 2018.

Is BharatPe safe to invest in?

Yes, it is safe to invest in BharatPe, as a lot of people use the app on a daily basis.

How to delete BharatPe account?

To delete the BharatPe account, a user can go to Settings, and then select the Deactivate account option.

What is BharatPe business model?

BharatPe operates on a merchant-focused fintech model, offering QR-based UPI payments, loans, and BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) services. It earns revenue through merchant transaction fees, lending interest, and financial services.

February 13, 2025

Sharks on Land: A Look at Shark Tank India Judges’ Achievements
The Shark Tank India judges each have an impressive resume full of varied skills and noteworthy accomplishments from their respective fields. Aside from their roles as judges on the show, these individuals have made significant contributions to a variety of industries, demonstrating remarkable leadership, creativity, and entrepreneurship.

Their travels are engraved with stories of victory and difficulties, capturing the essence of perseverance and vision. From pioneering ventures to leading multimillion-dollar enterprises, their footprints are felt across industries, making an everlasting influence on the Indian economic landscape. Their contributions will inspire future generations and pave the way for a more prosperous and promising future for humankind as the journey progresses.
Ashneer Grover

Name Ashneer Grover

Born 14 June 1982

Position Ex-founder and Managing Director of BharatPe

Achievements of Shark Tank India Judges – Ashneer Grover

As the ex-founder and Managing Director of BharatPe, Ashneer Grover has left an indelible mark on India’s fintech landscape. A graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, Grover’s journey includes stints at renowned companies like Kotak Investment Bank, Grofers, PC Jeweller Ltd., and American Express. His brainchild, the BharatPe app, launched in 2018, has garnered over one crore downloads on the Play Store.

Grover’s accolades include:
- The Entrepreneur of the Year award in January 2021
- The Young Achiever’s award was also bestowed upon him in January 2021
Vineeta Singh

Name Vinita Singh

Born 1983

Position Co-founder & CEO of Sugar Cosmetics

Achievements of Shark Tank India Judges – Vineeta Singh

Co-founder & CEO of Sugar Cosmetics, Vineeta Singh, has been instrumental in shaping the beauty industry in India.

Vineeta’s entrepreneurial journey has been decorated with numerous accolades:
- The Startup of the Year 2019 by Entrepreneur Awards, Delhi
- Singh’s leadership prowess landed her on the cover of Forbes Most Powerful Women (MPW) in Business in December 2021
- She was recognized in the Economic Times’ 40 Under 40 list in 2021
Aman Gupta

Name Aman Gupta

Born 4 March 1982

Position Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of boAt

Achievements of Shark Tank India Judges – Aman Gupta

A powerhouse in the tech industry, Aman Gupta is the co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer at boAt. Gupta’s entrepreneurial spirit has been lauded with several prestigious awards, such as the Businessworld Young Entrepreneur Award in 2019 and the Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2020. Under his leadership, the boat achieved the distinction of being named the World’s Top 5 Wearable Brand in both 2020 and 2021.

Aman Gupta’s other achievements include:
- In 2019, he was on the list of Entrepreneur India Tech 25 Class
- In 2020, he was the winner of Super 30 CMOs
- In 2020, he was on the list of 40 under 40 Achievers by Businessworld, The Economic Times
- In 2021, he won the Lokmat Most Stylish Entrepreneur of the Year
- In 2021, he was on the list of 40 Under 40 list of Economic Times
Who is the Richest Shark in Shark Tank India? | Net Worth of Entire Cast of Shark Tank India

Shark Tank India season 4 is set to return with a panel of amazing judges. Check out the sharks’ net worth and the fees charged by them. Explore the entire cast of Shark Tank India judges here.

StartupTalkyDamini Bhandary

Anupam Mittal

Name Anupam Mittal

Born 23 December 1971

Position Founder & CEO of People Group and Shaadi.com

Achievements of Shark Tank India Judges – Anupam Mittal

As the founder & CEO of People Group and Shaadi.com, Anupam Mittal has revolutionized the online matchmaking industry. His impact extends beyond business, as he has been recognized among the top 25 people frequently searched by The Week magazine and listed among India’s 50 Most Powerful People by Business Week.

Anupam Mittal’s contributions have earned him below accolades:
- The Entrepreneur of the Year award by IT People
- The Karamveer Puraskar
Namita Thapar

Name Namita Thapar

Born 21 March 1977

Position Executive Director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals

Achievements of Shark Tank India Judges – Namita Thapar

Namita Thapar, Executive Director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals, is a trailblazer in the pharmaceutical sector.

Namita’s exemplary leadership has garnered numerous achievements:
- Recognition in The Economic Times Women Ahead List 2017
- The Economic Times’ 40 Under Forty
- India’s Hottest Young Business Leaders List 2017
- The Barclays Hurun Next Gen Leader Recognition and
- The World Women Leadership Congress Super Achiever Award
Success Story of Namita Thapar – Executive Director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals

Namita Thapar is a well-known name when we examine the rise of women in business in India. Discover more about Namita’s net worth, investments, education, and more.

StartupTalkySarika Anand

Ghazal Alagh

Name Ghazal Alagh

Born 2 September 1988

Position Co-founder and Chief Mama of Mamaearth

Achievements of Shark Tank India Judges – Gazal Alagh

Co-founder and Chief Mama of Mamaearth, Ghazal Alagh, has made significant strides in the realm of sustainable and natural beauty products.

Gazal Alagh’s entrepreneurial journey has been punctuated with achievements such as receiving:
- The Best Brand of the Year award for Mamaearth in 2018-2019
- Named one of India’s forty under forty achievers in 2019.
- Alagh’s commitment to excellence was further underscored by the Super StartUps Asia Award in 2019.
Ritesh Agarwal

Name Ritesh Agarwal

Born 16 November 1993

Position Founder and CEO of OYO Rooms

Achievements of Shark Tank India Judges – Ritesh Agarwal

Founder and CEO of OYO Rooms, Ritesh Agarwal‘s entrepreneurial journey began at a young age and has catapulted him to global recognition. His remarkable achievements include being the first Asian resident to win the ’20 Under 20’ Thiel Fellowship and being listed in Forbes’s “30 Under 30” in the consumer tech sector. Agarwal’s innovative approach to hospitality has redefined the concept of budget accommodation worldwide.

Ritesh’s other achievements include:
- Top 50 Entrepreneurs by TATA First Dot Awards in 2013
- Listed as “One of the 8 Hottest Teenage Startup Founders in the World” by Business Insider in 2013
- Received TiE – Lumis Entrepreneurial Excellence Award in 2014
- Young Entrepreneur Award by Business World in 2018
Azhar Iqubal

Name Azhar Iqubal

Born 1993

Position Co-founder and CEO of Inshorts

Achievements of Shark Tank India Judges – Azhar Iqubal

Azhar Iqubal, co-founder and CEO of Inshorts, is a visionary entrepreneur who has disrupted the media landscape with his innovative news aggregation platform.

Iqubal’s achievements include:
- Business World 40 under 40
- Fortune India 40 under 40
- Business World Young Entrepreneur Award
- The Most Enterprising Brands
- Leaders of Asia Award
- Forbes India 30 under 30
- Forbes Asia 30 under 30
Ronnie Screwvala

Name Ronnie Screwvala

Born 8 September 1962

Position Co-founder of upGrad

Achievements of Shark Tank India Judges – Ronnie Screwvala

Co-founder of upGrad, Ronnie Screwvala, has been at the forefront of India’s digital education revolution. His contributions extend beyond business, as evidenced by the Swades Foundation, which aimed to lift a million people out of poverty. U Sports focused on nurturing talent in Kabaddi, E-Sports, and Football.

Ronnie’s achievements include:
- Esquire listed him as one of the 75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century in 2008
- The Time 100 placed him 78th out of the 100 most influential people worldwide
- Fortune Magazine ranked him as one of the 25 Most Powerful People in Asia.
Radhika Gupta

Name Radhika Gupta

Born 14 September 1983

Position Managing Director and CEO of Edelweiss Mutual Funds

Achievements of Shark Tank India Judges – Radhika Gupta

Managing Director and CEO of Edelweiss Mutual Funds, Radhika Gupta, is a stalwart in the finance sector and is recognized for her exemplary leadership and contributions. Gupta’s work in the finance sector has been acknowledged with various awards, including:
- LinkedIn Top Voices in India −2021 in Finance & Economy in 2020
- Fortune India’s 50 Most Powerful Women in Business in 2020
- Economic Times 40 Under 40 Business Leaders Award in 2021
- The Impact Creator Awards 2021, presented by the Governor of Maharashtra in 2021
- Business Today: Most Powerful Women in Indian Business Awards
- Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum- 2022
- CII Young Women Leader of the Year from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in 2022
- Forbes Women Power: Self-Made Women by Forbes India in 2022
- Business Book of the Year: Self Help (Limitless) by FICCI Publishing, awarded in 2023
Radhika Gupta: Edelweiss Mutual Fund CEO to Shark Tank Judge

Let’s dive into Radhika Gupta, CEO of Edelweiss Mutual Fund, and discover her journey to success in the world of business.

StartupTalkyKanimozhi Sivakumar

Deepinder Goyal

Name Deepinder Goyal

Born 26 January 1983

Position Co-founder and CEO of Zomato, Director of Upslope

Achievements of Shark Tank India Judges – Deepinder Goyal

Deepinder Goyal is the co-founder and CEO of Zomato, a leading food delivery and restaurant discovery company. He started Zomato in 2008 with Pankaj Chaddah. Before Zomato, he worked at Bain & Company as a consultant. Deepinder is an IIT Delhi graduate and has played a key role in Zomato’s global growth.

Deepinder Goyal won the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ award. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw presented him with the award at the NDTV Indian of the Year—2024 event.

Deepinder Goyal Success Story: Biography | Zomato | Net Worth

Deepinder Goyal is the Co-founder and CEO of Zomato. Know more about his education, his net worth, his idea of founding Zomato, and his Success Story. Know more on Deepinder Goyal Wikipedia.

StartupTalkyRishabh Rathi

Peyush Bansal

Name Peyush Bansal

Born 26 April 1985

Position Co-founder and CEO of Lenskart

Achievements of Shark Tank India Judges – Peyush Bansal

Peyush Bansal is the CEO and Co-Founder of Lenskart. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering — IT, Control, and Automation from McGill University. After a brief stint as a Program Manager at Microsoft, Bansal realized his desire to make a significant impact and returned to India to address the problem of vision correction. Peyush Bansal has been awarded with various accolades, some of his achievements are as follows:
- Awarded Innovator of the Year Award at NDTV Indian of The Year Awards 2023-24
- He received the ‘India TV Yuva Awards in 2015
- Red Herring Top 100 Asia Award 2013
- Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2012
- British Honors Award at McGill University
- Best 40 under 40 Entrepreneurs 2019 Fortune India
Peyush Bansal Success Story: The Visionary Behind Lenskart’s Success | Education | Early Life | Personal Life

Peyush Bansal is the co-founder and CEO of Lenskart. He was also a shark in Shark Tank India. Here’s a look at his education, career, investments, age, personal life, and more.

StartupTalkyShalini Rath

Varun Dua

Name Varun Dua

Born 1981

Position Co-founder and CEO of Acko, Co-founder of Coverfox & Glitterbug Technologies

Achievements of Shark Tank India Judges – Varun Dua

Varun Dua is the CEO and the founder of the company, Acko. He completed his education at MICA, Ahmedabad, and the University of Mumbai. After finishing his graduation, Varun served as a trainee at Leo Burnett Advertising for less than a year. He then started his career as a marketing manager at Tata AIG Life Insurance and Franklin Templeton Investments. Varun then founded Coverfox Insurance Broking Pvt. Ltd. Before he founded Coverfox in 2013, Varun founded Glitterbug Technologies. Varun Dua holds a prominent role as one of the Sharks on Season 3 of Shark Tank, adding his expertise and insights to the entrepreneurial landscape.

His achievements include:
- Featured in Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list for Finance.
- Won the Global New Venture Challenge in 2020, receiving $20,000 for his startup idea.
- Recognized as an influential entrepreneur by several business publications.
Varun Dua: The Visionary Behind India’s Insurtech Revolution | Education | Family | Net worth | Acko

Discover Varun Dua’s inspiring journey as the founder of Acko, India’s leading digital insurance platform, and his impact on the insurtech industry. Learn about Varun Dua’s family, education, net worth, age, and more from this article.

StartupTalkySarika Anand

Kunal Bahl

Name Kunal Bahl

Born 1 January 1984

Position Co-founder of Snapdeal and Titan Capital

Achievements of Shark Tank India Judges – Kunal Bahl

Kunal is the co-founder of Snapdeal. Bahl was a student at the University of Pennsylvania, where he completed a degree in Systems Engineering. He is also an alumnus of The Wharton School where he studied Marketing and Operations Strategy and also did Executive Program in Marketing from Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management.

Bahl was also there in the Jerome Fischer M&T Program. In his professional career, Kunal started as an Independent Director of Piramal Enterprises Limited before co-founding Snapdeal in 2010. Bahl also co-founded Titan Capital in 2011 and AceVector Group in June 2022. Thus, Kunal can be summed up as an investor and entrepreneur who aims to create impact through entrepreneurship.

Kunal Bhal has been awarded with the following awards:
- BMA Entrepreneur of the Year 2014
- ET Top 50 Entrepreneurs of India 2014
- Ranked 25 on Fortune 40 under 40 most influential business leaders list 2014
- EY Entrepreneur of the Year – Startup 2014
- Nasscom NextGen Entrepreneur 2014
- The Economic Times Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2015
- AIMA Transformational Business Leader of the Year
- Indian Affairs Business Leader of the Year 2015
- The Joseph Wharton Award for Young Leadership 2018
- The Economic Times Comeback Award 2019
Kunal Bahl: The Newest Shark in Shark Tank India | Personal Life | Education | Snapdeal

Explore the biography of Kunal Bahl, co-founder of Snapdeal and Titan Capital and now a part of the Shark Tank India cast. Learn about his early life, education, investments, and more.

StartupTalkyShubham Kumar

Viraj Bahl

Name Viraj Bahl

Born 1980

Position Founder & Managing Director of Veeba

Achievements of Shark Tank India Judges – Viraj Bahl

Viraj Bahl is an innovative young entrepreneur with a passion for food. Viraj was born into a long line of entrepreneurs. He wanted to prove to his father that he could be more than just his son.

Viraj had a lifelong passion for working in the food industry. From a failed restaurant business to building an INR 1,000 crore brand and becoming a new panelist on Shark Tank India, Viraj Bahl is a visionary entrepreneur whose passion for food turned into a national success. With much hard work, along with a few roadblocks, today Veeba stands as one of the largest homegrown sauce and condiments brands in India.

Viraj’s achievements include:
- Entrepreneur of the Year 2020 – Economic Times Awards for Innovation and Excellence in Indian Food Industry.
- Top 50 Most Admired Entrepreneurs in India, 2018 Business Today for visionary leadership in building Veeba Foods.
- Best Food Processing Brand, 2019 – Veeba, the Indian Food Forum has given an award that recognizes its high-quality and innovative offerings.
- Sustainable Business Excellence 2021 Winner from FSSAI for Veeba’s commitment towards sustainability and healthy food production practices.
- Fastest-Growing FMCG Brand, 2022 – Economic Times Edge Awarded to Veeba for fast growth and impact in the FMCG sector.
Viraj Bahl: The Sauce King of India’s FMCG Sector | Education | Biography | Career |

Discover Viraj Bahl’s journey from a failed restaurant business to building an INR 1,000 crore brand and becoming a new shark on Shark Tank India. Learn more about Viraj Bahl’s education, career, etc.

StartupTalkySakshi Jadhav

Vikas D Nahar

Name Vikas D Nahar

Born 1984

Position Founder and CEO, Happilo

Achievements of Shark Tank India Judges – Vikas D Nahar

Born in Bangalore, Vikas D Nahar comes from a farming family background that grew pepper and coffee. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Computer Application from Bangalore University and began his career as a Senior Import Manager (Asia) at Jain Group Pvt. Ltd. Afterward, he pursued a Master of Business Administration in Marketing from the Symbiosis Centre For Management and Human Resource Development in Pune.

Following his MBA, Vikas joined Satvikk Speciality Foods Pvt. Ltd. as the Managing Director. Satvikk Speciality Foods is a health-focused food store that opened its first branch in Bangalore in December 2011. Vikas served as its Managing Director for almost five years. His experience at Satvikk finally helped him establish Happilo, the popular gourmet healthy food brand, in 2016.

Nahar has received numerous prestigious awards and recognitions, including:
- Entrepreneur of the Year 2021 by the Indian Achievers Forum
- ET Entrepreneur of the Year
- SIAL Innovation Awards 2022
- Times’ 40 Under 40
Vikas D Nahar Success Story: From Happilo to Shark Tank India

Discover the inspiring success story of Vikas D Nahar, the founder and CEO of Happilo, who earned a seat as a guest shark on Shark Tank India Season 2.

StartupTalkyShalini Rath

FAQs

What is Shark Tank India?

Shark Tank India is an Indian business reality television series based on the popular global format Shark Tank. It has budding entrepreneurs pitching their business ideas to a panel of potential investors called ‘Sharks’ to secure investment deals.

Who will be the sharks in Shark Tank India?

Vineeta Singh, Peeyush Bansal, Namita Thapar, Anupam Mittal, Amit Jain, Deepinder Goyal, Varun Dua, Radhika Gupta, Ronnie Screwvala, Azhar Iquabal, Ritesh Agarwal, and Aman Gupta are the sharks in Shark Tank India. Season four of the show will feature two new sharks, Kunal Bahl and Viraj Bahl.

When will Shark Tank premiere in India?

Shark Tank Season Four premiered on Sony LIV on January 06, 2025.
January 15, 2025

Name	Vinita Singh
Born	1983
Position	Co-founder & CEO of Sugar Cosmetics

Name	Aman Gupta
Born	4 March 1982
Position	Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of boAt

Name	Anupam Mittal
Born	23 December 1971
Position	Founder & CEO of People Group and Shaadi.com

Name	Namita Thapar
Born	21 March 1977
Position	Executive Director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals

Name	Ghazal Alagh
Born	2 September 1988
Position	Co-founder and Chief Mama of Mamaearth

Name	Ritesh Agarwal
Born	16 November 1993
Position	Founder and CEO of OYO Rooms

Name	Azhar Iqubal
Born	1993
Position	Co-founder and CEO of Inshorts

Name	Ronnie Screwvala
Born	8 September 1962
Position	Co-founder of upGrad

Name	Radhika Gupta
Born	14 September 1983
Position	Managing Director and CEO of Edelweiss Mutual Funds

Name	Deepinder Goyal
Born	26 January 1983
Position	Co-founder and CEO of Zomato, Director of Upslope

Name	Peyush Bansal
Born	26 April 1985
Position	Co-founder and CEO of Lenskart

Name	Varun Dua
Born	1981
Position	Co-founder and CEO of Acko, Co-founder of Coverfox & Glitterbug Technologies

Name	Kunal Bahl
Born	1 January 1984
Position	Co-founder of Snapdeal and Titan Capital

Name	Viraj Bahl
Born	1980
Position	Founder & Managing Director of Veeba

Name	Vikas D Nahar
Born	1984
Position	Founder and CEO, Happilo

Exploring the Educational Backgrounds of All the Judges on Shark Tank India

In a world where each individual is a unique mosaic of experiences, passions, and goals, the path to success is as varied as the individuals themselves. The many educational backgrounds people bring are crucial to this variation fabric.

Every choice made on Shark Tank India is based on a wealth of experience and expertise fashioned by the different educational backgrounds of its respected judges. These diverse fields provide a thorough understanding of business principles and invaluable insights into various industries and market dynamics.

In this post, we’ll look at all Shark Tank India judges’ educational backgrounds and how they’ve applied their qualifications and expertise in the real world.

Vineeta Singh
Aman Gupta
Anupam Mittal
Namita Thapar
Peyush Bansal
Amit Jain
Ritesh Agarwal
Deepinder Goyal
Azhar Iqubal
Kunal Bahl
Ronnie Screwvala
Varun Dua
Viraj Bahl
Radhika Gupta
Ashneer Grover
Ghazal Alagh
Vikas D Nahar

Vineeta Singh

Name	Vineeta Singh
Position	Co-founder & CEO of Sugar Cosmetics
Education	B.Tech (IIT-Madras), MBA (IIM-Ahmedabad)

Vineeta Singh was born in Anand, Gujarat, India, in 1983 and is 40 years old as of 2023. She completed her schooling at Delhi Public School R. K. Puram, New Delhi, from 1987 to 2001. She graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, with a B.Tech in Electrical Engineering. While at IIT Madras, she did her three-month summer internship with I.T.C. Limited in Kolkata. In 2005, she graduated from the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad with an MBA She worked as an intern for three months at Deutsche Bank in both London and New York while she studied for her MBA. Vineeta Singh worked on projects with the strategic equity transaction group in New York and the emerging markets structuring team in London during her internship.

Aman Gupta

Name	Aman Gupta
Position	Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer at boAt
Education	Delhi University, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Indian School of Business, Kellogg Graduate School of Management

Aman Gupta finished his education at Delhi Public School, R. K. Puram, New Delhi. He later pursued a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons.) degree at Shaheed Bhagat Singh College. He attended the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India from 1999 to 2002 to pursue his studies in accounting, finance, and chartered accountancy. He then enrolled in the Indian School of Business to pursue an M.B.A. in Finance and Strategy. Following that, in 2011, he enrolled in Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management’s student exchange program to pursue an M.B.A. in General Management and Marketing.

Anupam Mittal

Name	Anupam Mittal
Position	Founder & CEO of People Group and Shaadi.com
Education	MBA in Operations & Strategic Management (Boston College, US)

Anupam Mittal’s widespread fame stems from his position as CEO and founder of Shaadi.com and the People Group. Having started internet enterprises before the internet bubble, Mittal is among the pioneering technology-driven entrepreneurs in India. In addition, he has produced Bollywood films Flavors and 99 under the banner of his parent firm, People Group. He was born in Mumbai, India, and completed his education at Jai Hind College. He earned his M.B.A. degree in operations and strategic management from Boston College in Massachusetts.

Namita Thapar

Name	Namita Thapar
Position	Executive Director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals
Education	Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Duke’s Fuqua School of Business

Emcure Pharmaceuticals’ Executive Director and Shark Tank India investor Namita Thapar is an incredibly successful businesswoman. Her professional accomplishments are matched by her ownership of luxurious mansions, a fleet of exquisite cars, and a net worth in the crores. She finished her primary and secondary schooling at a school in Pune. Namita gave up all extracurricular activities in school to focus solely on academics. She was an excellent student who consistently ranked top in her class. Following her education, Namita enrolled in the B. Com. program at Savitribai Phule Pune University in Pune. She also pursued her ICAI chartered accountancy degree in the interim. Namita then attended Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business in Durham, North Carolina, to get an MBA.

Peyush Bansal

Name	Peyush Bansal
Position	Founder & CEO of Lenskart
Education	McGill University, Canada, IIM, Bangalore

Peyush Bansal, born in Delhi, India, began his education at Don Bosco School in New Delhi. Peyush Bansal has demonstrated his inventive energy and passion for value creation through his entrepreneurial experience. His academic aspirations led him to prestigious schools such as McGill University, where he earned a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering. He then enrolled in the Management Programme for Entrepreneurs and Family Businesses (MPEFB) at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.

Amit Jain

Name	Amit Jain
Position	Co-founder and CEO of Car Dekho
Education	IIT, Delhi

Amit Jain received his early education at St. Xavier’s School in Jaipur. After finishing school, Amit passed the IIT entrance exam and was accepted into IIT Delhi in 1999.

Ritesh Agarwal

Name	Ritesh Agarwal
Position	Founder and CEO of OYO Rooms
Education	College Dropout, Sacred Heart School, and St. Johns Senior Secondary School

Ritesh attended Sacred Heart School in Rayagada, Odisha, and later graduated from St. Johns Senior Secondary School in Meerut Cantt, Uttar Pradesh, India. Then, to prepare for the IIT entrance exam, he traveled to Kota, Rajasthan. Following that, he enrolled in the Indian School of Business and Finance in Delhi’s University of London International Program in 2011 and eventually dropped out. He became the first Asian recipient of the $100,000 Thiel Fellowship grant, equivalent to Rs. 55 Lakh at the time.

Deepinder Goyal

Name	Deepinder Goyal
Position	Co-founder and CEO of Zomato
Education	IIT, Delhi

During his school years, Deepinder Goyal performed below average and had difficulty passing his classes until he reached class 8. For the first time, Deepinder placed third in the class during his first semester of study sessions in class 8 when one of his teachers provided him with a solved answer sheet. Inspired by the praise he got from his parents and professors, he decided to continue his studies henceforth diligently. After two years of improved grades, his parents moved him to D.A.V. College in Chandigarh for classes XI and XII, where he studied science.

He was able to pass the Indian Institutes of Technology, Joint Entrance Examination on his first attempt despite the difficulties he encountered throughout his academic career. He subsequently attended the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, to pursue an engineering degree.

Azhar Iqubal

Name	Azhar Iqubal
Position	Co-founder and CEO of Inshorts
Education	Mathematics and Computer Science, IIT Delhi (Dropped out)

Azhar Iqubal is an Indian entrepreneur who co-founded and serves as the CEO of the news app Inshorts. After completing his schooling, he began preparing for the IIT JEE. He began studying at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi in 2009, pursuing engineering and computer science. In 2012, he left IIT to pursue his entrepreneurial dreams.

Kunal Bahl

Name	Kunal Bahl
Position	Co-founder of Snapdeal and Titan Capital
Education	B.S.E in Entrepreneurship, Operation & Information Management, Wharton B.A.S in Engineering

Kunal Bahl grew up in India and went to Delhi Public School R.K. Puram for his early education. He later studied at the University of Pennsylvania, where he joined the prestigious Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology. He secured two bachelor’s degrees—one in Entrepreneurship, Operations & Information Management from The Wharton School and another in Engineering from the School of Engineering and Applied Science respectively. He also completed an executive marketing program at the Kellogg School of Management to further build his business skills.

Ronnie Screwvala

Name	Ronnie Screwvala
Position	Co-founder of upGrad
Education	Sydenham College of Commerce & Economics

Ronnie Screwvala’s name is synonymous with innovation and achievement in the realm of educational technology. As the founder of upGrad, he has transformed online education in India, enabling thousands of students to advance their careers and thrive in the digital era. He completed his education at Mumbai’s Cathedral and John Connon Schools before earning his degree from Sydenham College. His father worked in the film business, instilling a passion for entertainment and media in him from an early age. Ronnie Screwvala’s parents had other plans for him. However, he still aspired to start his own business while attending university in Mumbai.

Varun Dua

Name	Varun Dua
Position	Founder and CEO of Acko
Education	MBA from Mudra Institute of Communications Ahmedabad

Varun Dua is the founder and CEO of Acko. He is also the owner of CoverFox. Having worked in the insurance industry for over a decade, Varun was responsible for technology-enabled efficient customer service and marketing analytics for primary business acquisition. He earned a commerce degree from the R. A. Podar College Of Commerce & Economics in Mumbai, Maharashtra. After graduation, he took the C.A.T. exam. Later, he earned a master’s in Strategic Marketing and Communications from Mudra Institute of Communications in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

Viraj Bahl

Name	Viraj Bahl
Position	Founder & Managing Director of Veeba
Education	Industrial Marine Engineering at Singapore Polytechnic

Viraj Bahl is the Founder and Managing Director of Veeba (VRB Consumer Products Pvt. Ltd.), a leading consumer food brand. He will join the panel of Sharks for Shark Tank India season 4. Viraj is known for his deep understanding of the food industry. He is excited to share his knowledge and mentor entrepreneurs with great, scalable ideas.

His experience in building a successful business will help guide those looking for investments and advice. Viraj has studied Industrial Marine Engineering at Singapore Polytechnic.

Radhika Gupta

Name	Radhika Gupta
Position	Managing Director and CEO of Edelweiss Mutual Funds
Education	B.Sc in Economics

Radhika Gupta is the managing director and CEO of Edelweiss Mutual Fund, which established a mutual fund company worth Rs 1 trillion in just five years. Due to her father’s transferable employment, Radhika Gupta finished her education at various institutions across multiple nations. She graduated from Delhi Public School in India, the American International School in Abuja, Nigeria, and Marymount International School in Rome, Italy.

She later graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School with a B.S.E. in economics in 2005. She also finished the Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology.

Ashneer Grover

Name	Ashneer Grover
Position	Ex-founder and Managing Director of BharatPe
Education	B.Tech (IIT-Delhi), MBA (IIM-Ahmedabad)

Ashneer Grover is a graduate of IIM Ahmedabad and IIT Delhi. Ashneer Grover finished his schooling in Delhi. Following that, he received his B.Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology. While studying at IIT Delhi, he was chosen for a student exchange program at the National Institute of Applied Sciences, known as INSA Lyon, France. This engineering school is among the most prestigious and largest in Europe. With a €6,000 grant from the French Embassy, he relocated to INSA Lyon in 2002. Grover then attended the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad in 2004 to pursue an MBA in finance and graduated in the year 2006.

Ghazal Alagh

Name	Ghazal Alagh
Position	Co-founder and Chief Mama of Mamaearth
Education	BCA, Punjab University

Ghazal Alagh is an Indian businesswoman and the Chief Mama of Mamaearth, a natural, toxins-free cosmetics brand. Ghazal Alagh graduated from Punjab University with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Applications. 2013 she completed a Summer Intensive Course in Modern Art in Design and Applied Arts. She also completed a rigorous figurative painting course at the New York Academy of Art that same year.

Vikas D Nahar

Name	Vikas D Nahar
Position	Co-founder and CEO of Happilo
Education	Bangalore University, Symbiosis Centre for Management & Human Resource Development, Pune

Co-founder and CEO of Happilo, Vikas D. Nahar is a Special Guest Judge on Shark Tank India. Nahar hails from a farming family that produces coffee and pepper. After completing his schooling in Bangalore, he attended Bangalore University to acquire a Bachelor’s in Computer Applications in 2005. After that, he completed his MBA in marketing at Pune, Maharashtra’s Symbiosis Centre for Management & Human Resource Development (SCMHRD).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the judges of Shark Tank India have a variety of educational backgrounds, which emphasizes the value of interdisciplinary knowledge and practical experience in the business world. Each judge contributes a distinct viewpoint influenced by their academic journey, drawing from famous institutions such as IITs and IIMs as well as international universities and specialized programs.

FAQs

Who is Aman Gupta?

Aman Gupta is the co-founder and Chief Marketing officer of the company boAt.

What is the education of Peyush Bansal?

Peyush Bansal began his education at Don Bosco School in New Delhi. His academic aspirations led him to prestigious schools such as McGill University, where he earned a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering. He then enrolled in the Management Programme for Entrepreneurs and Family Businesses (MPEFB) at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.

Who is Vineeta Singh?

Vineeta Singh is the co-founder and CEO of Sugar Cosmetics.

What is Shark Tank India?

Shark Tank India is a platform that provides opportunities to new entrepreneurs who will be able to entice the sharks with their ideas. The Sharks will invest in those businesses that they will find suitable.

December 24, 2024

Ashneer Grover: Fintech Innovator, Former Shark Tank Judge, and Entrepreneur

Ashneer Grover was the Managing Director and Co-founder of BharatPe, until February 28, 2022, when he had to resign and renounce his positions in the company. He co-founded the company along with Shashvat Nakrani in 2018. Within four years, they have turned BharatPe into one of the largest used payment apps in India. BharatPe founder Ashneer Grover was also seen on the judging panel of the Shark Tank India reality show. His net worth is around INR 700 crore.

Though Ashneer Grover had a good start in terms of education, career, and business, he also faced multiple challenges in his entrepreneurial journey. This article discusses the complete story of Ashneer Grover right from his early life, achievements, history, and career to the controversies and challenges faced by him recently.

Ashneer Grover – Biography
Ashneer Grover – Personal Life
Ashneer Grover – Education
Ashneer Grover – Initial Career
Ashneer Grover – Founding BharatPe
Ashneer Grover – Shark Tank India
Ashneer Grover – Starting up again with the Unicorn Dreams
Ashneer Grover – Controversies and Challenges Faced

Ashneer Grover Biography

Name	Ashneer Grover
Born	14 June 1982
Birth Place	Delhi India
Nationality	Indian
Education	IIT Delhi and IIM Ahmedabad
Position	Ex-Founder and MD, BharatPe
Net Worth	INR 900 crore (2024)

Ashneer Grover – Personal Life

Ashneer Grover was born in Delhi on June 14, 1982. His father was a Chartered Accountant and his mother was a teacher. As his parents were in good professions, the family was doing well. He got graduated from well-reputed institutes like IIT, and IIM.

Ashneer Grover was married to Madhuri Jain Grover. She’s an entrepreneur and owns a furnishing business named Mauve and Brown in Delhi. Ashneer Grover’s wife, Madhuri Grover had taken care of HR, finance, and other internal operations and headed the Controls at BharatPe before she was declared to be one of the employees who were involved in financial fraud and was eventually terminated by the Board. The couple has two children.

Ashneer Grover – Education

Ashneer Grover completed his schooling in Delhi. He then graduated B.Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). During his time at IIT Delhi, he was selected for a student exchange program with the National Institute of Applied Sciences, also known as INSA Lyon, in France. It is one of the largest and finest engineering schools in Europe.

He moved to INSA Lyon in 2002 with a scholarship of €6,000 from the French Embassy. After graduating from IIT, Grover went to the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad for his MBA in Finance. He graduated from the IIM in 2006.

Ashneer Grover – Initial Career

Kotak Finance Banking selected Ashneer Grover as the Vice President through campus placements from IIM. He has been a part of Kotak for almost 7 years since 2006.

In mid-2013, Ashneer joined American Express (AmEx), a payment card services company, and worked for two years. During his tenure, Grover also famously led some startup investments for the card network of India. The Series B investment in Mobikwik came on behalf of American Express when Grover was still there. He was designated as the Director of Corporate Development in AmEx.

After leaving American Express in 2015, Ashneer became the Chief Financial Officer at Grofers, a startup founded by his IIT Delhi classmate Albinder Dhindsa. However, Grover left the company in 2017 because he didn’t get the ESOP options there that were promised to him earlier. The company is now called Blinkit.

Later in 2017, PC Jeweller Ltd. took Ashneer as the Head of New Business, where he worked for exactly a year. Ashneer Grover established his own company BharatPe at a very young age.

Ashneer Grover – Founding BharatPe

After accumulating 12 years of experience from multiple jobs, Ashneer Grover decided to start his own business. His experience as the head of business development and payments at PC Jeweller sparked the idea of starting a payments company. Ashneer eventually joined hands with Shashvat Nakrani to establish BharatPe in 2018.

Together they built the fintech company from scratch and added several services to its core operation. Today, BharatPe offers UPI Payments, QR codes for transactions, POS machines for card payments, an investment and loan app called 12% Club, and digital gold transactions.

When BharatPe was a $30 million company, Ashneer claimed that he received an offer of $50 million from Google Pay, but he refused to materialize a deal with the latter, as per one of his statements on the show Shark Tank India. Grover later added that he knew that he was meant for something big, which all entrepreneurs, founders, and CEOs to be, should aim for, and BharatPe was last valued at around $3 billion.

They also got approval from the RBI for small business financing in collaboration with Centrum Financial Services Ltd. By offering diverse services, Ashneer Grover made BharatPe one of the most used payment apps in the country. However, he had to retire after numerous rounds of controversies thrown at him and allegations surrounding him due to the financial irregularities associated with him, which were noticed by the company’s board. Ashneer Grover tendered his resignation from BharatPe on February 28, 2022, and boasted of still being recognized as the single largest individual shareholder of the BharatPe company.

In a speech that Ashneer Grover gave at the Lovely Professional University on April 29, 2022, where he was invited as a guest speaker, Ashneer shared an insight into how businesses operate and all the things that need to be kept in mind while diving into a new venture. Speaking about the same, he disclosed one such incident, after starting BharatPe, when he sought to make it popular overnight. He had a total of Rs 100 crore in his bank account, but he wanted to sign up Salman Khan. The Bollywood actor charged close to Rs 7.5 crore. However, unsure of whether he could do that, Ashneer asked Salman to reconsider his fees. Salman’s manager also asked him “Aap bhindi kharidne aaye ho kya, kitni mandwali karoge?”. However, at last, Salman reconsidered the charge, and came down to Rs 4.5 crore, thereby becoming the brand ambassador of BharatPe in 2019.

Ashneer Grover – Shark Tank India

Ashneer Grover was a judge on the first season of Shark Tank India and became very popular. However, he was removed after a fallout with his former company, BharatPe, which he had helped start. Despite this, his popularity remained strong, with many fans still hoping he would return to the show in later seasons.

Ashneer Grover – Starting up again with the Unicorn Dreams

Ashneer Grover, as per the reports dated June 16, 2022, was looking to find another startup, for which he will likely be raising around $200-300 mn. The former Co-founder and MD of BharatPe is currently in the US and in talks with the US-based family offices and other private equity offshore players to raise the funding required. Sources said that Grover might also start the business with some of his own money and will eventually sell a part of his BharatPe stakes or raise funding by issuing a stake in the new company. People also added that Grover’s 8.5% stake is now valued at around $3 bn, and there are also buyers for the stake.

The company or the sector that Ashneer Grover will be inclined to start with his new venture was not confirmed, when last reported in June 2022. However, the former BharatPe founder stated on his 40th birthday that he will be re-entering the world of business and also has plans to build another “unicorn”.

Fast forward to July 9, 2022, the startup has already been formed by Ashneer and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover, and is called Third Unicorn Pvt Ltd., according to the Tofler data. The startup, which has reportedly launched on July 6, 2022, will have both Ashneer Grover and his wife as Directors. The total paid-up capital and the authorized share capital have been revealed as Rs 10 lakh and Rs 20 lakh respectively.

Ashneer Grover – Controversies and Challenges Faced

BharatPe, as a company, got into a controversy when it labeled itself as nationalistic and its competitors as Non-Indian companies. The company issued pamphlets citing such details to the public. So the competitors filed a lawsuit against BharatPe and reported the same to the RBI.
Another controversy arose when PhonePe and BharatPe fought for the word ‘Pe’ in their respective names. PhonePe has filed a case against the latter in the Delhi High Court. It was later disposed of by the same.
A major controversy faced by Ashneer Grover was about an audio clip leaked on Twitter. It is claimed that Grover used inappropriate language and threatened a Kotak employee over an issue of not securing Nykaa’s IPO shares.
Before this issue could be settled, the company’s board raised accusations against Ashneer and his wife. The board accused them of initiating fraudulent transactions against non-existing vendors. They also reported irregularities in invoices.
The audio issue forced him to stay away from the company and take a temporary leave for three months. After the discovery of the financial irregularities, the board demanded the permanent exit of Ashneer Grover from the company. Grover then responded that he was happy to leave his role in BharathPe but would always stay as a shareholder and a founder.
With pressure mounting up on Ashneer Grover to leave BharatPe, he had strongly criticized the CEO Suhail Sameer. He said that Sameer manipulated and arm-twisted him to exit the company. Grover had also demanded a huge compensation worth around Rs. 4000 crores for his withdrawal from BharatPe. He said that he has 9.5% stakes, which would be worth around the same amount, but it’s been reported that the board is unlikely to agree with it.
Ashneer Grover had made an emergency arbitration plea to the SIAC but that was tossed off by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre. He made everyone believe that the probe by the board was unethical, but he failed. Grover also demanded his buyback before exiting the company, but the BharatPe investors declined the same. According to the BharatPe Board, Grover received the agenda of the company’s board meeting on February 28, 2022, which will also include the PWC report on the conduct of Grover where the actions were taken against him, will also be discussed, and it was on the same day that Ashneer Grover resigned. Grover resigned with immediate effect on 28th February but claimed that he would still be standing as the single largest shareholder of the company after mentioning that he and his family were “vilified” and forced to resign.
On 30th September 2024, BharatPe and Ashneer Grover settled ending their long legal battle and public disputes. As per the settlement, Grover will no longer be associated with the company, and the legal case against him has been dropped. As part of the deal, Grover will also give up his shareholding in the company.

Ashneer Grover recently appeared on Bigg Boss 18 on 18 November 2024, where host Bollywood actor Salman Khan called him out for his past comments and accused him of “doglapan.” Salman also mentioned not remembering any previous meetings with Ashneer. In response, Ashneer praised Salman as a “great host” and said he was sure the episode got great TRP.

Conclusion

The story of Ashneer Grover enunciates that however successful you are, problems and challenges are part and parcel of life. The way you overcome them has the power to define who you are.

Despite the accusations made against him by the board, one can never disagree with the effort and time Ashneer Grover invested in the growth of BharatPe. The Ashneer Grover controversy undoubtedly kept the startup ecosystem, BharatPe Board, the media, entrepreneurs, business professionals, and others engaged for over 2 months, but what hooks all of us right in is what Grover next plans to do. A man of his caliber would certainly have some plans in mind for the startup ecosystem too along with his own personal gains.

FAQs

Who is Ashneer Grover?

Ashneer Grover is the former co-founder, MD, and CEO of BharatPe.

Who is the CEO of BharatPe?

Suhail Sameer has been the CEO of the company since August 2020.

Is Asheer Grover from IIT?

Ashneer Grover is from IIT Delhi.

How Ashneer Grover became rich?

Ashneer Grover became rich by co-founding BharatPe, a fintech company that helps small businesses accept digital payments. The company grew quickly and became valuable, making Grover a wealthy entrepreneur. He also earned money through investments and his role on Shark Tank India.

Which state is Ashneer Grover from?

If you are wondering Ashneer Grover is from which state, then you should know that the Former Founder and MD of BharatPe was born in Delhi.

What is Ashneer Grover education?

He graduated B.Tech from IIT Delhi and MBA in Finance from IIM Ahmedabad.

What is Ashneer Grover age?

Ashneer Grover was born on 14 June 1982. He is 42 years old.

What is the issue with BharatPe’s board and Ashneer Grover?

The board accused Grover and his wife of making fraudulent transactions and irregular maintenance of invoices.

Which was Ashneer Grover first startup?

Ashneer Grover’s first startup was BharatPe, a fintech company that he co-founded in 2018.

What is Ashneer Grover net worth?

BharatPe founder Ashneer Grover’s net worth is around INR 900 crore as of 2024.

What are Ashneer Grover companies funded by him?

Some of the major investments that Ashneer Grover made were in:

M2P Fintech
Rupifi
Big Bang Food Tech
Pocketly
The Whole Truth
Koo App
EasyRewardz
MyHq
FrontRow

November 22, 2024

BharatPe Has Settled With Ashneer Grover, Who Will No Longer Be Involved in Any Operations

After years of bitter court fights and public arguments, fintech company BharatPe has achieved a settlement with its erstwhile co-founder Ashneer Grover. A BharatPe spokeswoman stated in a statement that Grover will not be connected to the company in any way or have any ownership stake as part of the deal negotiated. Additionally, Grover’s family trust will be in charge of his remaining shares, with some being transferred to the Resilient Growth Trust for the benefit of the business. Each party has made the decision not to press the filed cases.

In order to avoid being placed on the company’s cap table, a media report stated that he would be giving 1.4% of his ownership to the BharatPe board and 3.5–3.7% to a family trust. Bhavik Koladiya, a co-founder of BharatPe, will also receive his shares back from him. Koladiya accused Grover in January 2023 of receiving 1,611 shares of BharatPe (now 16,110 shares) for INR 88 lakh, but he never received payment for them. Grover was prohibited from selling these shares once the matter was brought before the court.

Declarations by Both Parties on Public Domain

Best wishes to Mr. Grover. Published on September 30, 2024, the BharatPe statement reaffirmed the company’s commitment to offering its merchants and customers industry-leading solutions that promote growth and profitability.

Grover tweeted on X, “I have reached an important resolution with BharatPe,” in response to this event. I put all my trust in the board and management, who are doing a fantastic job leading BharatPe in the correct direction. I still support the expansion and prosperity of the business. I shall no longer be a part of the capital table or affiliated in any way with BharatPe. My Family Trust will be in charge of my remaining shares. Each party has decided not to pursue the filed cases. I hope that BharatPe continues to expand and prosper for the benefit of everyone involved.

Unfolding the Recent Developments

The Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) detained Deepak Gupta, a relative of Ashneer Grover, the co-founder and former managing director of BharatPe, a few days ago on suspicion of stealing money from the fintech unicorn.

The sister of Madhuri Grover is married to Deepak Gupta. Ashneer Grover’s wife, Madhuri Grover, was let off from her position as Head of Controls at BharatPe. On September 19, Gupta was taken into custody and scheduled to appear before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court.

In December 2022, BharatPe lodged a criminal case against five individuals: Ashneer Grover, Madhuri Grover, Shwetank Jain (Madhuri’s brother), Suresh Jain (Ashneer’s father-in-law), and Deepak Gupta (Ashneer and Madhuri’s brother-in-law).

In May 2023, the EOW filed a formal complaint in the INR 81-crore fraud case against Ashneer Grover, the co-founder of BharatPe, his wife Madhuri Jain, and their family members Deepak Gupta, Suresh Jain, and Shwetank Jain.

Amit Kumar Bansal was apprehended by the EOW last month after it was alleged that he was one of the members of the non-existent entities that had received payments of INR 72 crore from the former directors of BharatPe between 2019 and 2021.

Grover and his family have been charged by BharatPe with causing losses to the company of approximately INR 81.3 crore through payments made to fake HR consultants, payments made to pass-through vendors who are connected to the accused, fraudulent input-tax credit transactions, non-compliant payments to travel agencies, invoices that were falsified by Jain, and evidence destruction.

Part Two of Ashneer’s Innings

With an app called ZeroPe for medical loans, Grover—who rose to fame after appearing on the Indian version of Shark Tank—is gearing up for his second venture into the financial space. Grover formed Third Unicorn following his departure from BharatPe, and in 2023 it introduced CrickPe, a fantasy game platform.

Ashneer Grover Success Story- Former BharatPe Co-Founder and MD

Ashneer Grover is the former Co-founder and MD of BharatPe and a shark in Shark Tank. Here’s a look at his journey and his controversies.

StartupTalkyBharath

October 1, 2024
I-T Department Slaps on Startups With Investor Details, Ashneer Grover’s Query Sparks Buzz

The I-T department slaps notices on Indian startups asking for their investor’s identity and last three years’ ITRs to verify their creditworthiness and genuineness of the transactions. Ashneer Grover jumped on X to question the pragmatism of this notice.

The ITR notices to Indian startups since earlier this year continue to create uncertainty and anxiety for the startups, making it difficult for them to raise funding. The turmoil started following the Income Tax Return (ITR) notices that were sent, under Section 68 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, to various startups earlier this year asking for the ITRs of the last three years of their investors and shareholders. The Income Tax Department slapped the notices to seek information about the creditworthiness of their investors and shareholders to verify whether the amount invested aligns with the income declared by them.

I-T Department’s Notice to Startups
Ashneer Grover’s Concerns and Questions
I-T Department’s Clarification
Disagreements and Criticism From Investors

I-T Department’s Notice to Startups

The I-T department has been sending these notices to startups that have raised large amounts of money from angel investors or venture capital firms. The I-T department is concerned that some of these investments may be disguised as loans and that the startups may be avoiding paying taxes on the interest income.

Everything You Need to Know about ITR E-filing 2.0 – New ITR Filing Website

The Income Tax Department of India has launched a new ITR filing website. If you are confused here’s everything you need ti know about it.

Alan JosephStartupTalky

Ashneer Grover’s Concerns and Questions

Ashneer Grover, former Co-Founder, and Managing Director of BharatPe, took his concern to X to ridicule and raise questions on the grounds on which the notices are being sent. He acknowledged that in the last month, several startups, including some under his portfolio as well, have received the ITR notices seeking the shareholder’s information.

He said, “In the last 1 month, a number of startups (a few in my portfolio as well) have received Income Tax notices asking to furnish information about shareholders.”

Grover even raised questions on how and why would a startup have their shareholders’ last three years’ ITR details and why would the shareholder or individual share the same with a private company.

He said, “Bahut interesting hai (It is very interesting) – they are asking start-up companies to furnish 3 year ITR of all shareholders. 1) How and why will companies have ITR of shareholders? 2) Why would a shareholder/individual share their ITR with a private company?”

In the last 1 month, a number of startups (a few in my portfolio as well) have received Income Tax notices asking to furnish information about shareholders.

Bahut interesting hai – they are asking start-up companies to furnish 3 year ITR of all shareholders. 1) How and why will… pic.twitter.com/f48593uE4T

— Ashneer Grover (@Ashneer_Grover) September 8, 2023

Ashneer Grover’s Questions

I-T Department’s Clarification

Replying to Grover’s post, the I-T department clarified that the notices were sent as per Section 68 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, when being asked by an Assessing Officer (AO), it is the responsibility of the company to provide the required information about their investor, their creditworthiness and their legitimacy.

His post also contained an image of the notice issued under Section 142(1) of the Income-Tax Act, 1961 which gives the Assessing Officers (AOs) the power to seek data from those filing the ITRs.

It reads, “Provide documentary evidence to substantiate the identity and ITR of last three years of shareholders to substantiate creditworthiness (of) the shareholders as well as the proof of the genuineness of the transaction in respect of fresh credit of the share capital/premium account,”

The reply from the I-T department on X reads, “Section 68 of Income-tax Act, 1961 (the Act) under which the AO has made the enquiry about the creditworthiness of the shareholder/investor, places the initial onus on the assessee-company to prove the following: the identity of the investor, the creditworthiness of the investor and genuineness of the transaction”

“Finance Act, 2012 mandated that the nature and source of any sum credited as share capital, share premium, etc., in the books of a closely held company (excluding Venture Capital Fund or a Venture Capital Company registered with SEBI) shall be treated as explained u/s 68 only if the source of funds from a resident shareholder is also explained by the investor,” the I-T department added.

The I-T department also mentioned that in this case the notices are sent as the AO has sought to assess the genuineness of the transaction and source of investment by the shareholder or investor. This is to be done to verify if the amount invested is commensurate with the income declared in the ITR of the investor.

However, it was also mentioned by the I-T department that the companies have the liberty to share the PANs of their investors instead, for verification.

“This has been the practice,” the I-T department added.

Dear @Ashneer_Grover,

1.Section 68 of Income-tax Act, 1961 (the Act) under which the Assessing Officer (AO) has made the enquiry about creditworthiness of the shareholder/investor, places initial onus on the assessee-company to prove the following:

a) Identity of the investor…

— Income Tax India (@IncomeTaxIndia) September 8, 2023

Income Tax Department’s Reply

Disagreements and Criticism From Investors

PTI reported that Mohandas Rai, Co-founder, of Infosys, who is also an investor, posted on X, tagging Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Grover’s initial post, to say it was “misleading”. He also added, “Sir tax terrorism is increasing! This is against what you have stood for. Please intervene.”

In the same post, he also tagged a multitude of politicians and ministers, including Tejasvi Surya, MP and BJP Yuva Morcha National President, and PC Mohan, BJP’s Bengaluru Central MP.

In response to the clarification issued by the I-T department, stating that companies have the option to furnish their investor’s PANs as an alternative to their last three years’ ITRs, Rai expressed his disagreement, condemning it – “again this is misleading.” He also tagged the Union Ministry of Finance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in his response, which was later reposted by Grover on X.

“Asking for the PAN is the law. But how can you also ask for 3-year tax returns of the investor from the startup? Does the law permit this? @IncomeTaxIndia itself says that Pan is sufficient. Why this overreach?” Rai asked.

September 12, 2023
List of 24 Startups Funded by Ashneer Grover
The Ex-Co-founder of BharatPe, Ashneer Grover has become a super popular name in India. He is the man who organized the unorganized sector of payments in India.

Recently, he made his appearance as a shark in the show, Shark Tank, India. There he contributed to the funding of various startups.

He has a keen eye for startups that holds great future potential in them. Over the years, Ashneer has funded many startups. For example- Pocketly, Credgenics, Freadom, Zorro, etc.

About Ashneer Grover
List of Startups Funded by Ashneer Grover
1. Big Bang Food Tech
2. TagZ Foods
3. Freadom
4. Koo App
5. Zorro
6. HireQuotient
7. Fello
8. Skippi Ice Pops
9. Get-A-Whey
10. Paz Care
11. Trica
12. FrontRow
13. OTO Capital
14. EasyRewardz
15. Lets Hash
16. The Whole Truth
17. Credgenics
18. Pocketly
19. india gold
20. Junio
21. M2P Fintech
22. Rupifi
23. earKart
24. MyHq
Flaunt your startup with StartupTalky

800+ stories, thousands of founders, and millions of visitors. Want to be the next?

StartupTalky is where founders, entrepreneurs, startups and businesses hang out and look up to for inspiration. If you have the means, we have the medium! Inviting founders and startups who are building sustainable solutions from ground zero! Startups who run the show, StartupTalky will let the world know!

Request Feature at StartupTalky

Story of Ashneer Grover

About Ashneer Grover

He was the Co-founder and Managing Director of BharatPe. He is an entrepreneur hailing from Delhi. He graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. For higher studies, he went to the prestigious Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

Ashneer Grover started BharatPe, the payment application in 2018 and resigned from the same on February 28, 2022. Before that, he has worked in many esteemed companies. These include Grofers, American Express, PC Jeweller Ltd., and Kotak Investment Bank.

He is one of the most popular under 40 entrepreneurs in India.

List of Startups Funded by Ashneer Grover

Ashneer is a man of great intellect who discovered a solution to help small retailers with digital payments. He is not just the founder but a great investor as well. He has funded many startups in the fields of fintech, healthcare, gaming, etc.

The startups funded by Ashneer are as follows:

Big Bang Food Tech

Big Bang Food Tech

Big Bang Food Tech is a Thrasio-style restaurant roll-up startup founded by Abhimanyu Singh Rana, Sonia Sinha, Sonia Mohindra, and Manu Mohindra that has made headlines by growing 80X since inception. With its monthly orders surging by 50% within just 2 months, Big Bang is a startup to be checked out. This startup raised its Seed round worth INR 4.8 crore led by a bundle of investors including Artha Venture Fund, Ashneer Grover, Harsh Jain, Anand Kumar, Nikhil Aggarwal, and others.

TagZ Foods

TagZ Foods | Ashneer Grover Funded Startups

This startup is a supplier of snacks and food products, founded in the year 2019. It aims to promote healthy snacking and an active lifestyle. Their most popular snack is potato chips which are neither fried nor baked. This is the most recent startup investment by Ashneer. He signed a deal for 70 lakhs INR at 2.5% equity.

Freadom

Freadom | Ashneer Grover Funded Startups

It is an extensive learning platform, founded in the year 2008. It is meant for children between the age group of 3 to 12 years. The startup strengthens the ability to read and speak in English. It also helps in developing conversational skills among children. The company raised $2.5M as Seed VC from Ashneer and other investors.

Koo App

Koo App | Ashneer Grover Funding in Startups |

Koo is a micro-blogging platform from India. Founded in March 2020 by Aprameya Radhakrishna, Mayank Bidawatka, the Koo App won the AatmaNirbhar innovation challenge and is a promising Made in India service platform, which aligns with the vision of PM Narendra Modi. It is a social media platform that helps Indian users share audio and video content, connect with each other and carry on with their conversations in 13+ local languages of India.

The popular Indian local vernacular social media app received funds from Ashneer Grover too along with some other investors like Capier Venture Partner, Ravi Modi Family Trust, in its Series B funding round, which helped it receive more than $10 mn in funding. The round came in 2 tranches.

Zorro

Zorro | Ashneer Grover Funded Startups

Zorro is a new-age pseudonymous social network, launched in the year 2021. Here people can write and share their thoughts without any limitations. People can wear a mask or build their private identity on this platform. The company raised a seed round of $3.2M from Grover, 3one4 Capital, and twelve other investors.

HireQuotient

HireQuotient | Ashneer Grover Funded Startups

It is an HR tech startup, launched in the year 2021. It is a platform of skill assessments to automate the process of HR interviews. HireQuotient helps the companies to bring about insights into a candidate’s job-specific skills and comes up with final recommendations. The startup is here to disrupt the non-tech hiring process. The company raised $1.8 M for a pre-seed round from Ashneer and seven other investors.

Fello

Fello | Ashneer Grover Funded Startups

It is a gamified investment and personal finance startup, launched in the year 2020. This is a great platform that allows gamers to turn into investors. Here, the users can save, invest, and receive higher returns than the regular savings account. The company raised a $1M seed round from Ashneer, Acequia Capital, and eight other investors.

Skippi Ice Pops

Skippi Ice Pops | Ashneer Grover Funded Startups

It is an ice popsicles brand, founded in the year 2020. The company makes its products by keeping the health of consumers in mind. Their ice popsicles do not have any artificial colors, sweeteners, or preservatives, rather all these are natural. It comes in various flavors that are not only delicious but also natural and healthy. He invested 20 lakhs INR for 3% equity of the company.

Namita Thapar Funded Startups in Shark Tank India

Namita Thapar encourages budding entrepreneurs by investing in their startups. Here is a list of 25 startups funded by Namita Thapar.

StartupTalkyBharath

Get-A-Whey

Get-A-Whey | Ashneer Grover Funded Startups

Get-A-Whey is an ice-cream brand, founded in the year 2018. It brings us India’s first healthy ice cream. These have no-added sugar and are packed with high proteins. It is also keto-friendly. The brand offers many varieties of flavors packed with health. He funded 33.3 lakhs INR for 5% equity of the company.

Paz Care

Paz Care | Ashneer Grover Funded Startups

It is a tech-based health insurance platform, founded in the year 2020. It allows to design and administer the employee benefits programs. Paz Care is a one-stop solution for all of the employees’ healthcare needs. This startup enables employers to make better and more informed healthcare decisions for their employees. It raised a seed round of 25 crores INR from Grover, 3one4 Capital, and six other investors.

Ways To Offer a Perfect Work-Life Balance to employees

Read to know the approach of Sanchit Malik, Co-Founder & CEO of Pazcare on different ways to offer a perfect work-life balance to employees.

StartupTalkyPreeti Karna

Trica

Trica Equity | Ashneer Grover Funded Startups

It is a combined technology solution for equity and transaction management. Trica was founded in the year 2018. Its features include ESOP (employee stock ownership plan) management, primary fundraising, and solutions for liquidity. It facilitates startups to manage ESOP and investors to invest in budding startups. The company raised seed round funding of $3M from Grover and eight other investors.

FrontRow

FrontRow | Ashneer Grover Funded Startups

It is an online learning platform, launched in the year 2012. The startup is meant to enable people to pursue their passion. They have courses for hobbies, creative arts, and sports. Here the types of classes include comedy, music, cricket, and more. The platform also conducts regular activities and competitions to enable the learners to practice more. The company raised 100 crores INR /Series A funding round from Ashneer and eighteen other investors. Deepika Padukone has also funded in the startup.

OTO Capital

OTO Capital | Ashneer Grover Funded Startups

This is a software company, founded in the year 2018. The company offers reasonable plans to buy our own automotive. It has partnered with many banks and NBFCs to provide financing facilities to its customers. The platform provides management of credit underwriting, insurance, management, and resale of the vehicle. The company raised a Series A funding round of $6M from Ashneer and nine other investors.

EasyRewardz

Easyrewardz | Ashneer Grover Funded Startups

It is an industry-agnostic cloud-based CRM and Loyalty and conversational commerce platform. It was founded in the year 2011. It helps the brands deliver smooth customer experiences and create a deeper connection with them. This enables the members to track and manage their loyalty balances across hotels, airlines, and shopping. The company raised pre-Series A round of 3 crores INR in 2015 from Ashneer Grover, Wealth First and other investors.

Lets Hash

Lets Hash | Ashneer Grover Funded Startups

It is a cigarette brand, founded in the year 2020. The brand aims to digitize the businesses of small tobacco retailers (paanwalas) in India. It provides credit access to this segment by making the supply chain more efficient. This way the brand’s sales get a boost and the small retailers gets to grow. The company raised 25 crores INR from Ashneer and six other investors.

The Whole Truth

The Whole Truth | Ashneer Grover Funded Startups

The startup founded in the year 2019, manufactures protein bars. The bars are packed with nutrition and make for a wholesome snack. These do not have added sugar, artificial sweeteners, preservatives, coloring, or flavoring agents. They are made with natural ingredients like cocoa, dry fruits, and raw whey. Ashneer was among the eleven investors of the Series A funding round of 43 crores INR raised by the company.

Credgenics

Credgenics | Ashneer Grover Funded Startups

It is a technology-enabled recovery platform, founded in the year 2018. They use automation intelligence and the best legal ways to deliver custom strategies for higher recovery rates at lower costs. Credgenics helps banks and fintech lenders in reducing critical NPA (Non-performing loans). Grover was one among eight investors who took part in a Series A funding round that raised $25M.

Pocketly

Pocketly | Ashneer Grover Funded Startups

It is a microlending platform for college students, founded in the year 2019. It offers instant and short-term loans by using machine learning and artificial intelligence. The company has features like credit extensions, transparent costs, and online support. Thus, empowers the students with instant cash. The company raised an undisclosed amount from Ashneer and seven other investors.

india gold

india gold | Ashneer Grover Funded Startups

This startup provides gold loans and gold locker services. It was founded in the year 2020. The company offers instant gold loans at inferior rates and minimum documentation. The company also offers insured lockers to their customers. The company raised 14 crores INR from Ashneer and nine other investors.

Top 9 Platforms to Invest in E-gold in 2021

Gold is a common investment of every Indian. Many platforms allow users to invest in e gold. Here are list of best Platforms to Invest in E-gold.

StartupTalkyAlan Joseph

Junio

Junio | Ashneer Grover Funded Startups

It is a startup that provides smart cards to children for their expenses. It started in the year 2020. With this app, a child can learn to earn, spend and save. It offers a digital pocket money-smart card for children. Parents can use their app to transfer money. In this way, children can learn to handle their finances under their parents’ guidance. Junio raised a $3M seed round from Grover and five other investors.

M2P Fintech

M2P | Ashneer Grover Funded Startups

It is a fintech startup, founded in the year 2014. M2P Fintech has experienced experts in fintech businesses and banking. They offer guidance and access to a reputed bank network to the users.

The platform connects banks, payment networks, businesses, and merchants. This helps the companies to co-create their own branded payment products. The company received Series A funding of $4.5M from Ashneer Grover and eight other investors.

Rupifi

Rupifi | Ashneer Grover Funded Startups

It is a digital B2B platform, founded in the year 2020. Rupifi offers loans, working capital, and payment services to small and medium businesses. These are offered on the basis of credit scores. The businesses can make the repayments later and thus, manage their finances better. Ashneer was one among the seven investors for the pre-seed funding round of the company that raised $650,000.

earKart

Earkart | Ashneer Grover Funded Startups

It is an online platform that provides hearing aid devices and services. The startup was founded in the year 2021. It allows the hearing aid dispensers and patients to access top global hearing aid brands at fair prices. The platform enables patients with hearing problems to connect with its wide network of dispensers in the nation. Currently, Ashneer is the only investor on this platform. The company raised an angel round of funding from Ashneer, the amount however, remains undisclosed.

MyHq

MyHQ | Ashneer Grover Funded Startups

It is a coworking office space solution provider for individuals and businesses, founded in 2016. MyHQ offers co-working spaces without any fixed monthly rent. These spaces are zones inside cafes, and restaurants, where one can work or conduct meetings without renting the place. These places have wifi, food, and other working essentials. Ashneer was among many investors who took part in company’s round of funding. His amount remains undisclosed.

Conclusion

The wave of startups in India is soaring high. Ashneer definitely has made a place on top for himself in the startup industry. He is known for being the founder of BharatPe. His appearance on Shark Tank India made him an even more popular name in the entire country. He was in fact, the richest shark on the platform.

Throughout the years of his entrepreneurship, he has funded many startups like Rupifi, Junio, Trica, earKart, and more. Ashneer Grover has indeed made his name and mark in the entrepreneur industry an unforgettable one.

FAQs

Who is Ashneer Grover?

Ashneer Grover was the Co-founder & Managing Director of BharatPe but has resigned and relinquished his positions in the firm on February 28, 2022, after he was entangled in numerous controversies including financial frauds.

How many startups did Ashneer Grover invest in to date?

Ashneer Grover has invested in more than 24 companies to date.

What are the companies that Ashneer Grover has invested in?

There are 24+ companies that Ashneer Grover has already invested in. This includes:
- EasyRewardz
- Nazara
- Koo App
- Recko
- Vested
- Vahan
- Jupiter
- Atom Finance
- RupiFi
- M2P
- Big Bang Food Tech
What is the net worth of Ashneer Grover?

Ashneer Grover’s Net worth is expected to be $90 Million (2021).

What is the total amount invested by Ashneer Grover in Shark Tank India?

Ashneer Grover invested INR 4 Crore till now in Shark Tank India.

How much equity does Ashneer Grover have in BharatPe?

Ashneer Grover owns 9.5% stakes in BharatPe but his stakes in the firm are at stake after his resignation.

What industry does Ashneer Grover like to invest in?

Ashneer Grover, till now, has tapped into a series of industries which includes gaming, healthtech, fintech, alcobev, co-working, staffing, and more.
April 1, 2022
The Curious Case of Bharat “PE” – Bharatpe vs Phonepe Case Study

BharatPe and PhonePe which are two digital payment applications in India have been fighting in the Delhi High Court regarding trademark rights on their name. It is said that the companies have been fighting among themselves since the year 2018. Let’s look at the complete case study of BharatPe and PhonePe.

BharatPe Vs PhonePe Case
Case filed by PhonePe against BharatPe
Court’s Decision on the Bharatpe vs Phonepe Case
About PhonePe and BharatPe

BharatPe Vs PhonePe Case

The two major digital payment applications have been said to have fighting over the usage of the suffix Pe in their names and the company PhonePe has been claiming trademark rights over it. It is observed that both the companies have been arguing about the topic since the year 2018 and later the Bengaluru based startup PhonePe moved to the court.

The two leading Digital payment applications have been fighting in the court for a very long time. The documents seen have conveyed that the Flipkart owned PhonePe has sought an authoritative order from the High Court against BharatPe for the usage of the word Pe in the name.

22 Startups Funded by Ashneer Grover in Shark Tank India

The co-founder of BharatPe, Ashneer Grover has funded several startups in Shark Tank India. Here is a list of startups funded by Ashneer Grover.

StartupTalkyMuskaan Kapoor

Case filed by PhonePe against BharatPe

It is said that the court did not grant an injection on the original appeal of PhonePe. The suit that had been complained about was based on seeking an authoritative order restraining the use of trademark, passing off, damages, etc. The company PhonePe has filed a suit on BharatPe for using the suffix Pe in both the languages English as well as Hindi and also both in graphic design as well as text.

PhonePe has been said to have sent a legal notice to BharatPe last year and the company had soon changed the logo and the colour of their original frame but that did not solve the issue and PhonePe had taken the case to the court.

BharatPe old vs new logo

A PhonePe spokesperson had conveyed that the company had approached the Delhi high court in order to protect their brand trademarks which they believe were being broken against the agreement of the law and added that the company was not interested to comment beyond this whereas BharatPe had declined to comment about the issue.

Sameer Nigam Biography – Founder & CEO of PhonePe | Education | Personal Life

Sameer Nigam is an Indian Entrepreneur who founded PhonePe[https://startuptalky.com/phonepe-success-story/], a UPI-based online payment system in 2015 and serves as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He also served as the Senior Vice President, Engineering at Flipkart[https://startuptalky.com/flipkart-success-story/…

StartupTalkyMegha Rani

Court’s Decision on the Bharatpe vs Phonepe Case

The Justice had conveyed that the usage of the word Pe in both the company’s names was nothing but a different spelling used to denote the word pay and added that no rights can be claimed over a mark which describes a word or even a word which is used to describe a part by misspelling it.

The court also added that the word Pe had not derived any other meaning other than pay. That is the company has not created a different impression on the minds of people like giving the word Pe a secondary meaning which refers to the goods or service provided by the company.

However, the Justice had conveyed that if the word Pe has acquired a secondary meaning then the court would look for a trial and the company will have to prove to the court that the word has a secondary meaning and the primary meaning i.e., pay should have been completely removed from the minds of their consumers. In order to move forward with this, the company will have to create evidence from their customers that the word has a complete secondary meaning which is related to the goods or service they provide.

The Court had said that considering the above factors both PhonePe and BharatPe are made up of several parts and added that these parts cannot be separated as Phone and Pe and Bharat and Pe. The court conveyed that the company PhonePe cannot claim rights over the word Pe.

The court added that the word Pe provides the meaning of the service provided by both the companies that is pay and said that by misspelling Pay and Pe there cannot be any claim on the legal positions.

About PhonePe and BharatPe

PhonePe Logo

PhonePe and BharatPe are both companies that provide digital payment services where as BharatPe provides their services only for the merchants and concentrates completely on that sector but PhonePe provides for both merchants as well as individual consumers as anyone who downloads the app can use PhonePe’s service.

BharatPe Logo

PhonePe has been increasingly expanding towards the merchant payments sector and BharatPe can be considered to be one of its major competitors in the field. PhonePe is considered to have a valuation of around USD 7 billion according to Morgan Stanley and BharatPe has been the fastest growing merchant payment company.

BharatPe has conveyed that they have around 1.5 million merchants on their platform with a daily transaction of around INR 7 lakhs and PhonePe for business has around 4.2 million merchants using it actively. Both the companies are considered to be expanding aggressively on-boarding offline merchants.

The Complete BharatPe Controversy of Ashneer Grover and Kotak Bank

BharatPe co-founder and Shark Tank India judge Ashneer Grover have landed himself in deep trouble involving him and Kotak Bank. Know the controversy here!

StartupTalkyHarshit Verma

Conclusion

BharatPe is a billion-dollar company with a valuation of close to USD 1 billion whereas PhonePe is already in the billion-dollar club. It is considered to be the first instance where 500 crores + companies involving into a fight against the trademark.

FAQ

Who is the founder of BharatPe?

Ashneer Grover and Sashvat Nakrani are the founders of BharatPe.

Is BharatPe Government company?

BharatPe is a private company founded in 2018.

Is PhonePe an Indian company?

PhonePe is an Indian digital payments and financial services company headquartered in Bangalore, India. It was founded in December 2015, by Sameer Nigam, Rahul Chari and Burzin Engineer.

Is BharatPe and PhonePe same?

No, BharatPe and PhonePe are different companies. They both offer digital payment services.

Who is the owner of PhonePe?

PhonePe is owned by Flipkart.

April 1, 2022
How the Sharks Benefited from Shark Tank India?
Shark Tank is one of the most famous reality shows. Originating in the west, it has become such a sensation that people are adopting the idea. Many are adopting the idea and making their own country versions of the show. Recently the show came to India in a never seen before avatar.

Last December, SonyLiv launched ‘Shark Tank India’ and what happened next was awe-striking. Viewers all over the country were glued to their screens to finish every episode of the first season ever. The show amassed amazing views and it was so vital that everyone seemed to be talking about Shark Tank India. A great achievement for the show and all the participating parties in the venture.

The show format is simple and easy. There are judges, who are all entrepreneurs in different fields. Who has disrupted one market or the other? Then there are participants or volunteers who are Indian and aspiring entrepreneurs. They pitch their ideas to sharks with the hope that they will like the idea and invest in the idea.

The persuasion of equity and capital makes up a whole episode. The show’s contestants made their pitches and many benefitted from the investments from sharks but what did sharks get? In this article, we will find out the possible benefits that were presented to sharks from Shark Tank India. Let us read on.

What is Shark Tank?
Everything About Shark Tank India
Benefits of Shark Tank India
How the Sharks Benefited from Shark Tank India?
The Aftereffects of Shark Tank India

What is Shark Tank?

Shark Tank is one of the most famous shows among startup enthusiasts. Not just people who are into entrepreneurship, but others too love watching pitchers pitch their ideas to big sharks (Established entrepreneurs).

The show took the popular path in America and was a very liked show. The show was made into a series of episodes. Each episode had some candidates who pitch their ideas to investors for raising capital. It initially premiered in August 2009 and since then has managed to amass a lot of views and attention.

The American counterpart was an adaptation of a Japanese show called, the Dragon’s Den. Originally called the Money Tigers in 2001. The show format involved entrepreneurs presenting their ideas to a panel of judges called sharks. Who then decides, communicates and persuades them to invest in those ideas.

Everything About Shark Tank India

Starting in December 2021, Shark Tank India was a first of its kind experiment in Indian television. The show format was almost the same as the original shark tank America. Aspiring optimistic entrepreneurs from India pitch their business models and present their workings to established entrepreneurs and investors. The panel of investors then decides after a lot of discussion about business, to invest money or reject their idea.

Shark Tank India

Each pitch begins with the participants asking for some amount of capital in return for a percentage of ownership in their business. The task that they make, sets up the valuation of their venture. The sharks try to negotiate the valuation to be in context with real numbers. Those metrics include numbers like revenue, previous deals, consumer rates and all sorts of expenses.

Valuation is one key concept that sets the belief that the judges or investors need to know whether the business or startup has the ability to stay afloat. The sharks need organisations that can be scaled and have an appeal to a large number of purchasers.

The judges try to figure out which businesses will be a good investment. They do that from negotiations and questions that they ask the participant entrepreneur. Judges are very particular about capital and numbers. This makes the show even more interesting. People love to watch them negotiate and persuade the participant for a good deal.

The judges of the first season were as follows,
1. Aman Gupta, The co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at boAt. BoAt is an earwear, audio products company.
2. Ashneer Grover, Former Co-founder and Managing director at BharatPe, the unified payments interface company.
3. Anupam Mittal, Founder, and Chief Executive Officer of Shaadi.com and People group. Shaadi.com is a popular matrimonial website.
4. Ghazal Alagh, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of MamaEarth, a wellness products company.
5. Namita Thapar, who is Executive director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals. She has expertise in the Pharma industry.
6. Peyush Bansal, Co-founder, and Chief Executive Officer of Lenskart, which is an eyeglasses company.
7. Vineeta Singh, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at Sugar Cosmetics. This popular company deals in cosmetics.
All of these companies are startups that were small at one point in time. These founders have acted as great leaders which helped these startups to get to the place where they stand. There are revenues flowing like water and valuations that reach the sky.

Shark Tank India aimed to collect these established entrepreneurs in one place. These experienced judges then judge the participants in the show for valuations, equities, and capital. This was something that was never seen before in the Indian television industry. Shark Tank India changed that forever, as it was able to garner great reviews. It created a fan following of its own.

The series, Shark Tank India, was immensely popular among the youth. As we all know that India is a youthful nation and youth is known to be creative. This show showcased the same, we saw amazing, creative business ideas.

Deserving participants got the paychecks and we all got the kick that we want from a reality TV show. But what did the sharks get? This is the question that we are trying to tackle. Let us see what opportunities the sharks got.

Shark Tank India: Episode 1 Review – Was it Worth the Hype?

The most awaited reality show, Shark tank India has released its first episode. Let’s look at the products featured and did the show live upto the hype?

StartupTalkyHarini Rao

Benefits of Shark Tank India

The Shark Tank India has made quite a buzz around the whole country. SonyLiv has managed to make a multi-bagger series out of this show. Everyone was watching it and appreciating the participants and their will to change something in society.

Visibility

If I ask you how many of you knew Ashneer Grover even before he became a judge at Shark Tank? Or Aman? Or Vineeta? Chances are that you would not know their name and faces. Only a few people who are deep into startups would know their names.

After coming to this platform of shark tank, all the sharks got immense visibility or popularity that is hard to get in this short span of time. It’s not that this is good for their character and personality and the work that they do but visibility helps in people recognising them at an instant.

With a leveraged position that all the sharks stand at. The visibility they gained gave them more power in their respective fields. More people know about them now. With this visibility, these sharks will be able to get recognised by a lot of future prospects and probabilities of profits. These benefits are not quite quick but will offer them a leveraged position in the future.

Investing Opportunity

Now, this was probably the best benefit to the sharks, no cap. This was as good a benefit to sharks, as it was a benefit to participants, if not more. All the sharks made investments in multiple startups with great potential.

All these sharks got more exposure for new startups from all over the country than probably any other investor in the country. This was the biggest benefit to the sharks. Here we will discuss how much each of the sharks invested during the show.

How the Sharks Benefited from Shark Tank India?

Viewers from all over the country got to know different startups but what about the sharks? What did they get?

Let us see what were the benefits to sharks of the Shark Tank.

Ashneer Grover

Ashneer Grover

Starting off with the most rational and straightforward judge, Ashneer Grover. He was the co-founder of BharatPe, which is a digital payments platform. He has been in the headlines since the inception of the show, Shark Tank India mainly due to all the controversies involving him, the Board of BharatPe and Kotak Bank. All of it finally ended with his resignation, which came in on February 28, 2022.

Apart from the headlines, he has been the investor for companies like the Whole Truth, IndiaGold, OTO Capital, and the Front Row. In the first season of Shark Tank India, the shark has invested a sum total of 5.3 Crore Rupees. The investment that he made was a result of a total of 21 deals, which is a good number for an experienced investor like Ashneer.

Anupam Mittal

Anupam Mittal

Anupam is another most loved judge of the show. He is the founder and the chief executive officer of a leading matrimonial website called Shaadi.com. Everyone liked the simple and straightforward attitude towards every pitch. He was not just the person behind Shaadi.com but he has built several successful ventures.

He has different interests and he has also produced two Bollywood movies. In the first season of the show, Shark Tank India, Anupam Mittal invested a sum total of 5.4 Crores to various startups which he found worthy. The investments that he made was a result of 24 deals that he negotiated on the premises of the show, Shark Tank India. He mentioned that he has always wanted to create opportunities for all the young entrepreneurs, as they will lay the first brick to the new India.

Namita Thapar

Namita Thapar

Another famous name from the show. Namita Thapar is one of the most successful women entrepreneurs in our country. She is the chief executive officer of Emcure Pharmaceuticals and recently became a judge at Shark Tank India. She is passionate about women in entrepreneurship, and she was also associated with different companies in the United States of America in various marketing and finance roles.

In the first season of Shark Tank India, this shark got an amazing opportunity to invest in various stage startups. She found potential in many startups and invested her capital in 25 deals. The sum total of the amount that she invested in startups was 10 crores. This is a good amount, even better than Ashneer and Anupam. She is an amazing investor with clear thoughts about her investment decisions.

Peyush Bansal

Peyush Bansal

Peyush was another judge with a huge fan following. He is humble and keeps a simple attitude, but is sharp in intellect. His hard work and determination have led him to realise his dream of Lenskart and create value for society. The stage at which he is now is a remarkable achievement in itself and he is worthy of it too.

Now he helps other entrepreneurs realise their dreams. In the show, Shark Tank India, he got this chance of investing his money and helping other startups to go ahead in their journey.

He utilised the opportunity and invested his 8.2 crores in various startup deals that he found potential in. Among all the pitches and negotiations, the amount that he invested was a result of 27 deals which he found to be a good investing opportunity.

Vineeta Singh

Vineeta Singh

Vineeta Singh, the co-founder and chief executive officer of SUGAR Cosmetics. She was one of the sharks in season 1 of Shark Tank India and had a blast of a season. After graduating from IIT Madras and IIM Ahmedabad, she got a decent offer for herself but declined the offer in order to go in the entrepreneurship direction.

As per the latest survey, Sugar cosmetics has been successful in creating a community of 5 million people. Her net worth stands at a whopping 300 crores. In the first season of Shark Tank India, this shark got the investment opportunity and she didn’t leave it.

She invested around 3 crores in various startups that had potential. A total of 15 deals were signed by this entrepreneur during the course of the first season of Shark Tank India. A true commemoration of statistics.

Aman Gupta

Aman Gupta

The meme guy of the Shark Tank India. This person is super chill and is equally sharp in his words. He is fun and does not shy away from saying what he thinks. Aman Gupta, The co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at boAt.

BoAt is an earwear, audio products company. He is the co-founder of boAt, which is the top earwear brand in India. on Shark Tank India, this shark got the opportunity of investing out his hard-earned money. Which will help the budding entrepreneurs with the fuel that they will be needing in their future.

This shark invested a total sum of seven and a half crores (7.5 crores). That amount of capital he invested was a result of 25 different deals on the show. He clearly knows the game.

Ghazal Alagh

Ghazal Alagh

She is not the most famous entrepreneur but the brand she has built really speaks for itself. Ghazal Alagh, the co-founder and chief executive officer of ‘Mama earth’. She is the mind behind this famous wellness brand. She got immense visibility because of the show and all of that she truly deserves.

In the first-ever season, she got the chance to be a shark in Shark Tank India and made deals in startups. Her estimated net worth stands at 148 crores in Indian Rupees. During the course of the show’s season One, the entrepreneur invested a sum total of 1.2 crores in various startups.

She made these investments in a total of 7 deals. She is sharp and simple as an entrepreneur. Her calculations and experience made her invest in good startups during the show.

Namita Thapar Funded Startups in Shark Tank India

Namita Thapar encourages budding entrepreneurs by investing in their startups. Here is a list of 25 startups funded by Namita Thapar.

StartupTalkyBharath

The Aftereffects of Shark Tank India

There were obviously immense ripple effects after the show. Every young Indian household consumed the content that SonyLiv created and got to learn something. In an immensely big country like ours, it is imperative that people know how to create wealth in the longer term.

This show, Shark Tank India, in a sense created hype for the same. This is India wants to create things in real life. This is India which wants to create value for society.

Words like Margin, Valuation and Equities made their way to a middle-class household with the help of the show. The show garnered enough attention which will definitely help the next wave of new-age entrepreneurs. The show clearly entails all the learnings and a guide of valuations which the judges beautifully explained. The judges made a lot of efforts to pack their knowledge into nuggets of wisdom that can be easily consumed.

The judges showed the importance of good ideas and the need for innovation. They showed us that the country and the society of every place need some innovative ideas that have some value to them. Ideas that solve some real problems of the world.

We were entertained and enlightened by the industry expertise of all the judges on the show. Which showed every entrepreneur a correct way of doing things. All of that information in a fun and real sense with that of the world.

The show format was fun too, sharks have to figure out new ways to find out which company was worth the investment. They have to negotiate the actual valuation and also, choose the investment amount.

Interestingly, the Sharks have invested a total of over Rs 32.5 crore on Shark Tank India in season one. This money of investors will be the capital for new-age entrepreneurs. This will help them as fuel in their journey to the whole world. India has always innovated its way ahead in the world and will continue to do that if it is provided with opportunities. Platforms like these support the mission and investors like sharks, always fuel the passions which drive the new age of India.

Conclusion

The entrance of the shark tank in India was an immense and huge achievement. The business world of the country benefited a lot as much as the middle class of the society. The show made many technical jargons related to the business world easy for normal households. Shark Tank India in a complete sense made the youth knowledgeable in the aptitude of the capital world.

In this sense, the show proved a lot beneficial to everyone watching it and everyone participating in it. The wisdom that the judges shared on stage, really went on to guide new entrepreneurs in their future crucial decisions. All this help for free? Not entirely!

The sharks aka the established entrepreneurs and trailblazers made their share of benefit on the show. They got the deserved visibility in the entire country and got some really cool investment opportunities to invest their money in. The capital that they gave out to the budding entrepreneurs, will help them realise their dream of creating value for society.

The sharks will be rewarded in terms of capital appreciation and the credit of supporting development in the country. Which is a win-win situation for everyone. These sorts of opportunities are rare and are known as Positive sum games, which are positive for either side. These judges stopped many losses and misfortunes just by guiding the pitchers on the platform of Shark Tank India. In the long term, they helped all the startups, even those startups which didn’t get funding.

FAQs

Which shark invested the most in Shark Tank India?

Aman Gupta has invested the most in Shark Tank India, which was estimated at Rs 9.35 crore in over 28 deals.

How much are the Sharks paid on Shark Tank India?

Each shark is paid differently, the payment ranged from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh.

What is the concept of Shark Tank India?

The entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to the sharks and then sharks decide to invest in their startups or not.

What is equity in Shark Tank India?

The equity in Shark Tank India is referred to as the equity shares on which depend the percentage of the company owned by the founder or investor.

What was the Shark Tank India Season 1 Episode 15?

The Shark Tank India Season 1 Episode 15 was titled as “It’s Time To Change”.

How many pitches were heard in Shark Tank India Season 1?

There were 198 pitches heard in total in Shark Tank India Season 1.

Who are all sharks in Shark Tank India?

The judges are known as sharks in the business reality show, Shark Tank India. They are all CEOs, founders, and key executives of different businesses in India across domains. Peyush Bansal (Founder and CEO of Lenskart), Namita Thapar (CEO of Emcure Pharmaceuticals), Ashneer Grover (Founder and MD of BharatPe), Vineeta Singh (Co-founder and CEO of Sugar), Aman Gupta (Co-founder and CMO of Boat), Anupam Mittal (Founder of People Group), Ghazal Alagh (Co-founder of MamaEarth).
March 1, 2022

The Complete Ashneer Grover Controversy involving BharatPe Board and Kotak Bank

Ashneer Grover has turned out to be quite a famous name in the startup ecosystem and beyond it. Though Grover has been recognized popularly as the Co-founder and MD of Bharatpe, who has left the organization recently, the popularity of Grover is also due to the fact that he is a judging investor on the reality TV show “Shark Tank India”. The show is the Indian adaptation of Shark Tank, which was famous worldwide, originating from the west. The show offers a clear view of the natural attitudes of venture capitalists in the business world. Here, Ashneer is probably the most famous shark in the Indian adaptation of Shark Tank.

Ashneer is a straight face investor who just speaks when he can add value, but when he speaks, he is brutally honest and mostly rash with words. He is the human adaptation of the idiom, “When it rains, it pours”. Shark tank is one of the hottest shows right now.

Ashneer has also made a series of news and headlines for some other things at his organisation. The BharatPe founder has been in the headlines for multiple reasons. The board of directors and other key people are also in the limelight for some questioning. This article talks about the series of events that happened and the consequences which the events took.

A Little Brief about the Ashneer Grover Controversy
Ashneer Grover Vs The Board of BharatPe
Why is BharatPe Under Scrutiny of RBI?
Ashneer Grover and Kotak Bank Controversy
Grovers and the Allegations Against Them

A Little Brief about the Ashneer Grover Controversy

The headlines have been covering Ashneer and the company a lot recently. The news is that the Co-founder and MD of BharatPe, who has reportedly resigned from the organization that he founded, Ashneer Grover, had previously written to the board of directors to remove Suhail Sameer from the board. Suhail is a co-founder too and he is also the current Chief Executive Officer of the Fintech startup BharatPe. There has been a lot of ruckus around the company.

When Ashneer Grover went on a voluntary leave in January, Suhail was made in charge of operations at the headquarters located in New Delhi. Suhail was also promoted to the post of Chief Executive Officer in August last year. All of this ruckus started when Ashneer engaged in a controversial audio clip with a Kotak Mahindra bank employee where he abused him in an alleged call over the financing for the Nykaa IPO. His voice circulated all over social media and he was also criticized severely. Ashneer was eventually asked to take a voluntary leave of absence till the end of March along with his wife and some other Bharatpe employees, which eventually turned into a mandatory leave of absence. Besides, the news was also ripe that the board of directors is in an attempt to scrutinize the financial frauds that Ashneer, his wife, and some other employees, who are allegedly involved with the same and this might also see Ashneer and his wife out of the company along with the others.

He responded strongly to the matter. He was also individually and independently examined for his governance in the company.

According to Ashneer, he is being arm-twisted into venturing out from the startup he built along with Suhail. He also mentioned that he was the one who chose Suhail to be the key person in the company and now Suhail is siding with the board to expel him.

Ashneer also replied that if the company wants to expel him, he wants his worth out of the company. At a valuation of 6 billion dollars, the 9.5% of shares that Ashneer has stands at ₹4000 crores. If the company wants to buy him out, it needs to put his ₹4000 crores on the table, he explained.

The financial frauds updates dated February 23, 2022, that entangled Mr. and Mrs. Grover along with some other BharatPe employees states that Madhuri Jain Grover, the wife of Ashneer Grover, was fired by the Board of BharatPe due to alleged irregularities and has also cancelled the ESOPs vested with her. Though an official statement from the company is still pending, Madhuri’s termination has been confirmed by a spokesperson close to the matter. Fast forward to February 28, 2022, Ashneer Grover resigned from BharatPe with immediate effect following the termination of his wife. With his resignation, Grover also steps down from the positions of Co-founder and Managing Director. Ashneer was recently rejected an emergency arbitration plea, which he filed with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), who tossed out all the 5 pleas that Grover made and left him without a single relief.

“I write this with a heavy heart as today I am being forced to bid adieu to a company of which I am a founder. I say with my head held high that today this company stands as a leader in the fintech world,” writes Ashneer Grover.

Grover’s letter said time and again that he and his family had suffered continuous vilification, for which he had to finally resign. Meanwhile, BharatPe has claimed that the resignation letter of Ashneer Grover was dropped minutes after he received the agenda for a board meeting, which would also include a report submitted by PWC regarding the conduct of Grover, and considering actions on it, as per the reports dated March 1, 2022. However, Grover also claimed that though he is resigning he will still stand as “single largest individual shareholder of the company.”

Ashneer Grover Vs The Board of BharatPe

Ashneer was in the news with a lot of headlines. One of the headlines was the board of a company trying to remove him from the startup. In the initial stage, the board realised that the company funds are being mishandled or tampered with. This is why they decided to put Ashneer and Madhuri Grover and some other employees on a mandatory leave of absence. On further investigation and when other controversies surrounded the founders and a list of its other employees, the Board then wished to remove Ashneer and Madhuri from the company along with some other BharatPe executives. To this, Ashneer replied that he has done nothing wrong and the allegations that the board and the media posted were all wrong. “The allegations had no rhyme and no reason”, he reported.

He admitted that the culprit in the issue is not himself and he further admitted that Suhail was the person who had to be expelled from the company. He said that Suhail was choosing the side of the board of directors to remove Grover as a key person in the company. Suhail deserves to be expelled from BharatPe. It was also brought to notice that Ashneer was the person who believed and entrusted Suhail in managing the company.

According to Ashneer, he is being arm-twisted into leaving the company. Even then, he has no problem or issues in leaving the company but he wants the company to first payout his share.

He said that if the company wants me to step out, then he wants his share of 4000 crores on the table. He thinks that his time is too important to be stuck somewhere in internal politics. He wants to focus on building more and he is not in the retirement stage. This finally led to Ashneer Grover resigning BharatPe on February 28, 2022.

Why is BharatPe Under Scrutiny of RBI?

One might think that the issue is around Ashneer Grover and the company. In some sense, one might think that the whole topic is Ashneer Grover Vs. the Board of BharatPe. It is not wrong but it is also not completely true. As the fight of words started between the company and Grover, a string of issues were ignited. The fire also ignited other issues surrounding the whole company, BharatPe.

There were financial authorities asking for credibility in sources of revenue and accounting norms from the company. The company was being screened for corporate governance issues if any.

The flight of issues was such that the RBI had to be involved. The Reserve Bank of India is examining the company to check any discrepancies. RBI is checking if any Corporate Governance rules were violated. If they discover anything fishy about some rules being violated, the company can get a big shock. Along with the awaked goodwill, the RBI can stop future mergers of BharatPe with any other entity.

It was alleged that there existed some financial irregularities at the FinTech startup. The issues and allegations got unearthed very recently during the investigations by risk management authorities and other financial regulatory bodies. One of the most notable authorities in investigations is Alvarez and Marsal, a management and risk advisory firm. The firm had already declared that there were inconsistencies in billing in dealings with the vendors. Besides, Alvarez and Marsal also found that there were payments from the company to vendors whose identities are faked.

As per the latest update dated February 23, 2022, from the sources close to the matter, Ashneer Grover’s wife Madhuri Jain Grover, who headed the Controls of Bharatpe, has been fired on the grounds of financial misappropriation. The probe that was ongoing on behalf of the BharatPe Board stated that Madhuri had used the company funds to fund her personal travels, on skincare products, and to buy expensive electronics goods. Furthermore, the report also includes her alleged expenditure of the company money worth Rs 1 crore for her holiday travels.

Ashneer Grover and Kotak Bank Controversy

The ex-co-founder and managing director of BharatPe, Ashneer Grover stepped down from the daily operations in the company in January. This was followed by a voluntary turned mandatory leave of absence from the company until the end of March, which finally concluded in the resignation of Grover and a termination of his wife.

On leave. Back on 1st April pic.twitter.com/qzD2Ot4OD9

— Ashneer Grover (@Ashneer_Grover) January 19, 2022

This was the time when he sparked a lot of controversies. One of the controversies was even a legal spat between Grover and Uday Kotak (Kotak founder).

The first time Grover started a controversy was the time when an audio file was leaked. Ashneer Grover was allegedly abusing a Kotak employee in the leaked audio file. That was the first instance when the cofounder at BhartPe sparked controversy and was quickly spotted on the headlines. Nothing has been proved yet but the news is out there reporting some blowing facts and figures. Grover however explained that all of that was fake.

The audio call headlines got more air when a legal notice surfaced on the news. The notice was from Grovers to Kotak and was dated November 30. This event further made the issue visible to the general public.

Both were seeking compensation claiming that Grovers decided to invest Rs 500 crores in Nykaa IPO through the bank’s IPO financing services. Grover claimed that the bank failed him in financing for the Nykaa IPO. Even then, he had no problem or issues in leaving the company but he first wanted the Board or somebody from the company to buy him out his share. The company at the present time stands at a valuation of $6 billion, as per Grover’s estimates. Ashneer says that he is happy to leave once he is paid his share of Rs 4000 crores. The board of directors is yet to reply to this statement. Moreover, Grover has hired three legal firms to be legally protected in these times. The cloud of allegations, which was hovering during the past couple of months was finally dissolved in the form of the resignation of Ashneer Grover, days after the termination of his wife by BharatPe Board.

Grovers and the Allegations Against Them

Investors at the FinTech firm BharatPe are not liking it with Grover and they are even mostly ready to give his payout to leave the company. As the issue moved further, Ashneer came to the sidelines and the company was in the front of headlines.

There was a preliminary investigation that was done by some external experts in the matter and they highlighted not just one but two big issues associated with the finance technological company.

The two allegedly fraudulent persons who are associated with the company are the Grovers – Ashneer Grover and Madhuri Grover (his wife) who made the cloud of allegations more strong. Madhuri, however, is linked in both the fraudulent issues found by investigators.

The report was helmed by Alvarez and Marsal, a management and risk advisory firm. The report was dated 24 January 2022, and was submitted to the BharatPe board. The Mint reported on 30th January, that the board had arrived at a decision to end the services of Grover based on the preliminary report submitted by Alvarez and Marsal, even as it had commissioned a comprehensive report.

Those two allegations that the company has pushed to Grovers were of financial wrongdoings. The two major grounds on which they were troubled were irregularities in retirement and other allegations were about non-existing vendors on the platform.

An examination of just two of the vendors pegged the amount paid by BharatPe for undelivered services at close to ₹4 crores. Grovers still maintains silence over all the allegations that point to them. The Grovers and BharatPe have not responded yet to the mentioned allegations.

Among all the headlines, Ashneer says that he is being arm-twisted into stepping down and he has done nothing wrong to the company and the society. He says that he is still the finest person to run the company. However, it is taken into notice that Ashneer has hired three legal firms to support him in a fight with the board of the company. He has hired Karanjawala, Ritin Rai and Meraki law to make himself legally prepared for any future proceedings.

A&M’s report found out that there were about Rs 51 crores that were paid to 30 vendors who were really non-existent. These payments and transactions were caught by the directorate general of GDT Intelligence or DGGU. The company on top of that also did not contest the demand for service tax, instead, they paid about Rs 11 crores in dues.

The primary investigation also found some irregularities in the workings of the company and the issue of non-existent vendors.

They found that this entailed an overall expense related to the 30 vendors of approximately Rs 53.25 crores (under validation). The company reversed the claimed input credit of 9.54 crore rupees and paid a penalty of 1.54 crores rupees. A&M has also recommended to the board that these issues require a much deeper investigation and analysis as to why the company was dealing with ‘non-existent vendors’ in the first place.

The top allegations that Ashneer Grover faced in the wake of 2022 are:

He was accused of using expletives against a Kotak Mahindra bank representative.
Grover allegedly was involved in turning the working culture of BharatPe toxic.
Both Grover and his wife, Madhuri Jain Grover, who was also the Head of Controls of BharatPe, participated in financial irregularities involving the funds of Bharatpe.

Ashneer Grover Lost an Arbitration He Filed Against the Probe

As soon as the Board of BharatPe started its investigation against Ashneer Grover, the Co-founder and MD of BharatPe, decided to rage against the same along with cementing his profits if an exit happens by wielding his stakes in the company. After Grover went on a two-month leave of absence, as decided by the Board, he quickly planned to file an arbitration plea with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), where he claimed here that the investigation of BharatPe against him was illegal. However, after the procession of the events, all pretty much against him, Grover lost his arbitration plea, as per the reports dated February 27, 2022, where sources close to the matter stated that the emergency arbitrator (EA) commented that in no ground the governance review at the fintech firm can be stopped.

According to the anonymous sources thorough with the matter, the emergency arbitrator (EA) has reportedly rejected all the five grounds via which Grover placed his appeal, thereby denying a single relief.

Grover had first pleaded about the preliminary investigation being invalid before the arbitrator. This is because, according to him, it violated the shareholder agreement and the articles of association, which is why he pleaded that the company can conduct any such investigation in no authority.

He was also of the opinion that all of the appointments for the independent audit of the internal processes and systems of the company were pleaded to be bad in law. Grover had further alleged that the members of the committee who will be reviewing the governance processes, including the CEO of BharatPe, Suhail Sameer, and the general counsel of the company, Sumeet Singh, are all biased Ashneer Grover also pleaded that the appointment of Suhail Sameer as a director should be suspended and that he should be “restrained from discharging any functions as director of the company”, in the plea, thereby seeking that no action should be taken against him. Grover further added in his plea that the company kept on with the review and assessment in spite of several representations/objections and this was not a transparent process that gave him any chance to present his case. However, all of these claims and his entire plea have been rejected recently by the EA because all the five grounds of relief that Grover gave, seemed to be unreliable. The emergency arbitrator reportedly mentioned that Bharatpe has acted according to the law and governance norms against Ashneer. Mr. Grover can now further challenge the order of the arbitrator before the Delhi High Court, as per sources.

The Resignation of Ashneer Grover

Ashneer Grover resigned from BharatPe and has also relinquished the posts of Co-founder and Managing Director of BharatPe on February 28, 2022, after he was recently notified of the rejection of his emergency plea by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) on all 5 grounds.

Here is a timeline of events to help you have a glimpse of the whole controversy involving Ashneer Grover, BharatPe and Kotak Bank:

Timeline	Events
January 5, 2022	Ashneer Grover’s audio clip with Kotak employee surfaced where he used profanities.
January 6, 2022	Grover declared that the audio clip is fake.
January 8, 2022	The audio clip was taken off from Twitter and SoundCloud and Ashneer Grover eventually deleted his tweet.
January 9, 2022	Reports came to limelight where Ashneer and Madhuri allegedly sent legal notice to Kotak. The bank further decided to press charges on him and Madhuri.
January 17, 2022	The emails exchanged between Ashneer Grover and Harshit Sehji, the MD of Sequoia Capital came into the limelight that dated back to August 2020. This purported that Grover is wanting to partially sell the shares in a secondary transaction
January 19, 2022	Ashneer Grover goes on a voluntary leave of absence
January 29, 2022	BharatPe board decided to onboard independent auditors to run a probe on the company’s practice under Ashneer Grover’s administration
January 30, 2022	Grover hoped to see an amicable resolution but he still hired a law firm to protect him and his stakes in the company.
February 4, 2022	The investigation conducted against the BharatPe co-founder, his wife and some other employees, linked Ashneer and Madhuri Grover with financial frauds. Ashneer Grover’s letter dated February 2, 2022, surfaced, which talked about the removal of Suhail Sameer from the Board.
February 10, 2022	Madhuri Jain Grover questions the leak the initial findings that name her in the Alvarez and Marsal report, with a letter to A&M.
February 11, 2022	CEO Suhail Sameer assures the BharatPe employees to trust the Board for the future proceedings.
February 22, 2022	Ashneer Grover attacks Rajnish Kumar, the Chairman of the BharatPe board, seeking protection against any future actions as part of the settlement process.
February 23, 2022	Ashneer Grover’s wife and the Head of Controls of BharatPe, Madhuri Jain Grover, was fired by the BharatPe Board due to misappropriation of funds, as per the independent audit led by Alvarez and Marsal.
February 27, 2022	Ashneer Grover’s emergency arbitration plea against the governance probe was rejected by SIAC.
February end	According to the reports, the key investors of BharatPe had turned down the Ashneer Grover offer of selling his stakes in the company for over Rs 4,000 crore.
February 28, 2022	Ashneer Grover resigned.

Conclusion

All these leaks here and there point to more and more issues in the bricks of this behemoth organisation. Further investigations are being carried out to get a more clear picture of the whole issue and the resulting consequences. Right now most reports have no rhythm and reason and investigations are continuing.

FAQs

Is Ashneer out of Shark Tank?

Ashneer has confirmed that his deals are not affected by the controversies.

Who is BharatPe CEO?

Suhail Sameer is the current CEO of BharatPe.

Is Ashneer Grover out of BharatPe?

No, the fintech startup has denied any rumours regarding the termination of the company’s co-founder, Ashneer Grover.

March 1, 2022

Tag: Ashneer Grover

BharatPe: How is it Making QR Code and UPI Payments Accessible?

Company Highlights

About BharatPe

BharatPe – Founders and Team

Ashneer Grover

Bhavik Koladiya

Shashvat Nakrani

BharatPe – How Does It Work?

BharatPe – Name, Tagline and Logo

BharatPe – Business Model

BharatPe – Revenue Model

BharatPe – Funding And Investors

BharatPe – Shareholding

BharatPe – Growth and Revenue

BharatPe – Financials

BharatPe Revenue:

BharatPe Expenses:

BharatPe Profit/Loss:

Quick Summary:

BharatPe – Products and Features Launch

BharatSwipe

Gold loans for merchant partners

Loan Application Process for the Merchants

Investment Platform

Payback(Zillion)

12% Club

BharatPe – Challenges and Controversies

BharatPe Pending Employee Salaries: The Boardroom Battle Turned into a Keyboard Fight

BharatPe Fined Again for Invoices to Fake Vendors

Ashneer Grover Claimed that the Gold Loan Vertical Launch was his Brainchild

BharatPe – Acquistion

BharatPe – Partnerships

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)

Women Entrepreneurship Platform

BharatPe – Marketing Campaign

BharatPe Lagao Dhandha Badhao

BharatPe – Competitors

BharatPe – Future Goals

FAQs

What is BharatPe app?

Who are BharatPe founders?

Is BharatPe a government company?

Who is the owner of BharatPe?

What is BharatPe Balance?

How does BharatPe make money/BharatPe revenue model?

What is BharatPe launch date?

Is BharatPe safe to invest in?

How to delete BharatPe account?

What is BharatPe business model?

Sharks on Land: A Look at Shark Tank India Judges’ Achievements

Ashneer Grover

Vineeta Singh

Aman Gupta

Anupam Mittal

Namita Thapar

Ghazal Alagh

Ritesh Agarwal

Azhar Iqubal

Ronnie Screwvala

Radhika Gupta

Deepinder Goyal

Peyush Bansal

Varun Dua

Kunal Bahl

Viraj Bahl

Vikas D Nahar

FAQs

What is Shark Tank India?

Who will be the sharks in Shark Tank India?

When will Shark Tank premiere in India?

Exploring the Educational Backgrounds of All the Judges on Shark Tank India

Vineeta Singh

Aman Gupta

Anupam Mittal

Namita Thapar

Peyush Bansal

Amit Jain

Ritesh Agarwal

Deepinder Goyal