Following a “scrutiny” of “select NBFC-P2P companies” from June to September 2023, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) discovered “multiple violations” of the regulations established in October 2017, when the licensing standards were published, to welcome these companies to the Indian financial market.
It was preceded by the RBI’s March 2016 release of the initial P2P lending draft for stakeholder comment. In addition to meeting the criteria for being “fit and proper” to operate P2P platforms, a minimum of around 2 crore net-owned money is required according to the licensing standards.
Although not all of the approximately 25 licenses issued by the RBI have gone live, some of them have. Approximately one-third of the fifteen entities that went live have now gone dark. According to analysts, the industry’s outstanding loan book is estimated to be over 6,000 crore, and four companies control more than 90% of the market.
A loan of approximately 10 lakhs could be made at the outset. The amount increased to over 50 lakhs in December 2019. Through P2P platforms, a lender can distribute this funding to numerous borrowers. But regardless of how many lenders there are, a borrower cannot receive more than ~10 lakh. The maximum amount that a lender can lose due to a single borrower is around $50,000. (A minimum of 20 lenders are required in the event that a borrower requests ~10 lakh.)
Platforms that facilitate peer-to-peer (P2P) lending allow users to pool their savings in escrow accounts and then lend those funds to other users or small businesses without requiring collateral.
Lenders can access their money before loans are fully processed on P2P platforms. This implies that over the remaining time of the loan, a different lender will take over for the first one, without the lenders on the platform having to say anything. The “deposit-taking” feature of these NBFC-P2Ps is the root cause of loan replacement.
Loan contracts on the platform must be signed by both the lender and the borrower in accordance with RBI regulations. But instead of that, platforms are only giving out loans to people who have lenders’ whole approval. The standards for licensing are being violated here.
The standards that control the transfer of money are another source of worry. In order to reinvest the funds, these platforms are moving the repayments from the borrower’s escrow accounts to the lenders’ escrow accounts. Repayment funds must be sent from the borrower’s escrow account to the bank account of the lender.
P2P platforms have been issued a stern warning by the RBI, urging them to immediately cease these actions. They risk regulatory and supervisory measures if they do not.
Number of Peer to Peer Non Banking Financial Companies in India as of January 2022, by City
Industry Adopting a ‘Wait and Watch’ Policy
P2P Lending Platforms
The official explained that new alliances take substantial time, technological, and legal resources to be integrated, thus the industry is simply taking a “wait and watch” approach rather than rapidly expanding.
Liquiloans has partnered with a number of prominent P2P lenders, including Cred, Avail Finance, Uni, and BharatPe; LenDen Club has partnered with PhonePe, Karza, and BharatPe. The general pace of business has decreased, even though partnerships are still continuing. Since October, corporations have been consistently engaging with the RBI, therefore experts do not see this trend continuing.
During an occasion, RBI deputy governor M. Rajeshwar Rao reportedly stated that NBFC-P2Ps’ actions did not seem to comply with regulatory norms. The majority of the lenders on these sites probably don’t have the training or education to properly assess the dangers of lending money.
While the RBI first published comprehensive rules for the market in 2017, 2019 saw the introduction of certain updates to those rules. However, the central bank has been providing platforms with guidance on several aspects of compliance over the past 12 to 18 months.
The Department of Regulation at RBI has been approached by these businesses to clarify several important matters. A decision on these practices is also required by the Department of Supervision.
The peer-to-peer lending market is currently valued at an estimated 7,000–8,000 crore rupees. About twenty P2P licensing systems can be found in India. They are all NBFCs that have registered with the RBI.
Payouts, processing fees, and platform fees all contribute to the platforms’ bottom lines. The maximum amount that a lender can put on a platform is Rs 50 lakh. One borrower is limited to an investment of no more than Rs 50,000.
At no point in time should a borrower’s total loan amount exceed Rs 10 lakh. This loan has a maximum maturity term of 36 months. An annual interest rate of 36% is charged by some sites.
The Reserve Bank of India’s intensified scrutiny of NBFC-P2P companies has revealed multiple violations of established regulations, including issues with loan processing, fund transfers, and compliance with licensing standards.
Despite partnerships and engagement with the RBI, concerns persist regarding the industry’s compliance and operational practices. The conclusion underscores the need for stringent regulatory oversight and enhanced industry compliance to sustain the integrity and stability of the P2P lending market in India.
FAQs
Which is the largest P2P lending platform in the world?
Lending Club is the world’s largest P2P platform.
Is P2P lending legal in India?
Yes, P2P lending is completely legal and fully regulated by RBI in India.
Which P2P lending is best in India?
Some of the most popular P2P lending platforms in India are LenDenClub, Faircent, Lendbox, etc.
In recent years, India has witnessed a remarkable surge in startups achieving the prestigious “unicorn” status. These privately held startup companies, valued at over $1 billion, signify the vibrant growth of India’s startup ecosystem. While the United States and China lead globally in the number of unicorns, India has secured a spot in the top three countries, showcasing the rapid development of its startup landscape.
Several Indian startups have attained unicorn status unprecedentedly, earning the title of fastest unicorn. This growth can be attributed to factors such as increasing smartphone and internet penetration, urbanization, rising disposable incomes, and substantial funding opportunities supported by government initiatives like Startup India and Digital India.
This article analyzes some rapidly evolving Indian firms that have quickly earned association in the elite unicorn club. These fastest unicorns’ unique ideas have gained funding and validation from top global investors. They are also driving a revolution in India’s major industries.
Bhavish Aggarwal and Krishnamurthy Venugopala Tenneti
India’s Unicorn Companies – Krutrim
Launched in December 2023, Krutrim Ai Designs was founded by Bhavish Aggarwal and Krishnamurthy Venugopala Tenneti. Krutrim is a large language model (LLM) that comes in two versions: the base Krutrim model, which comprehends 22 Indian languages and can generate content in 10 languages, and the more advanced Krutrim Pro.
Developed entirely in India, Krutrim aims to align with Indian cultural nuances and cost structures to support the advancement of AI in the country. In a remarkable feat, Krutrim swiftly secured $50 million in funding, catapulting its valuation to an impressive $1 billion. This rapid ascent not only marks Krutrim as India’s first unicorn of 2024 but also positions it as the fastest startup in the country to achieve this milestone, accomplishing it within just one month of launching its large language model.
Mensa Brands is a technology-led investment platform that helps founders of digital-first brands grow their businesses using data, technology, and team expertise. It is an Indian startup that acquires direct-to-consumer brands and helps them scale within the home market and overseas. Mensa Brands currently houses 12 brands, 80% of which are run by women, and operate in three categories- apparel, beauty and personal care, and home.
Mensa became a unicorn, with a valuation of more than one billion dollars, just six months after it was founded. Ananth Narayanan launched it in May 2021; by November 2021, it was a unicorn. It raised $135 million in a Series B fundraising round headed by Falcon Edge’s Alpha Wave Ventures, valued at $1.2 billion.
GlobalBees
Company
GlobalBees
Founded
2021
Founders
Nitin Agarwal and Supam Maheshwari
India’s Unicorn Companies – GlobalBees
GlobalBees, founded in 2021 by Nitin Agarwal and Supam Maheshwari, brings digitally native brands into its fold, spanning various categories like beauty, personal care, home and kitchen, food and nutrition, and sports and lifestyle. These brands typically generate revenue ranging from $1 million to $20 million. GlobalBees assists these firms in expanding their reach by partnering with them and facilitating sales through marketplaces and other channels, both within India and internationally.
In December 2021, GlobalBees achieved unicorn status after successfully raising $110 million in its Series B funding round. The round was spearheaded by Premji Invest, the investment firm led by Wipro’s Azim Premji, with participation from existing investors, including Steadview Capital, Lightspeed, SoftBank, and FirstCry. With this infusion of funds, GlobalBees aimed to strengthen its product portfolio, drive further innovation, enhance the customer experience, recruit top talent, and scale its operations.
Ola Electric is an electric vehicle (EV) company dedicated to shaping a brighter, safer, and more sustainable future. Its vision is to establish India as the global hub for EVs by fostering an ecosystem of innovative products, services, and technologies. Ola Electric offers the Ola S1 electric scooter in variants like the Ola S1 Air, Ola S1X, Ola S1, and S1 Pro.
The company’s manufacturing facility, sprawled across a 500-acre, fully automated complex in Pochampalli town, Krishnagiri district, Tamil Nadu, is set to become the world’s largest two-wheeler factory. With an impressive annual production capacity of 10 million units, it aims to revolutionize the EV industry globally.
Ola Electric achieved unicorn status within just two years of its founding, having raised $250 million from SoftBank in a Series B funding round. This investment valued Ola Electric at over $1 billion, solidifying its position as a key player in the EV market. Additionally, Bhavish Aggarwal, the company’s founder, announced plans to establish the Battery Innovation Center (BIC) in Bangalore. This facility, considered Asia’s largest Cell R&D facility, signifies Ola Electric’s commitment to driving innovation and advancing EV technology.
Udaan
Company
Udaan
Founded
2016
Founders
Sujeet Kumar, Amod Malviya, and Vaibhav Gupta
India’s Unicorn Companies – Udaan
Udaan, established in late 2016 by former Flipkart executives Sujeet Kumar, Amod Malviya, and Vaibhav Gupta, is a unique B2B marketplace connecting manufacturers and wholesalers with retailers online. Unlike many startups, Udaan operates without a CEO by choice, setting it apart in the industry.
The platform simplifies the onboarding process for merchants, requiring minimal information, and provides effective catalog tools for product presentation. This creates a dynamic, two-way channel for trade, enhancing the overall user experience. Additionally, Udaan offers various services, such as credit financing and logistics, to facilitate connections between manufacturers and retailers. Notably, Udaan’s logistics service, Udaan Express, handles 65% of the company’s orders, further streamlining operations.
Recognized as one of the fastest companies to achieve unicorn status, Udaan attained this milestone in September 2018. This underscores its rapid growth and success within the B2B marketplace, solidifying its position as a leader in the industry.
On September 15th, 2021, Bengaluru-based Apna achieved unicorn status after securing $100 million in Series C funding led by Tiger Global, valuing the company at $1.1 billion. This remarkable milestone was reached just 21 months after its inception.
Apna provides a platform for job seekers to create profiles showcasing their skills, education, and work experience. Users can search for job opportunities, directly contact companies, schedule interviews, and ultimately secure employment. With India boasting over 300 million blue-collar workers, which is expected to rise annually by approximately 10%, platforms like Apna hold immense potential in this sector. Apna has a robust user base of 16 million individuals, with over 150,000 businesses utilizing the platform for recruitment. Impressively, apna facilitates more than 18 million job interviews every month, underscoring its significance in the Indian job market.
BharatPe is an Indian fintech firm formed in 2018. It offers a QR code-based payment solution software that enables offline businesses and shops to accept digital payments. It was created by Ashneer Grover and Shasvat Nakrani, both IIT Delhi alumni.
It enables retailers to accept payments from over 100 mobile apps with a single QR code that is automatically deposited to their bank account in real-time. The firm has experienced tremendous development, with a monthly transaction value of INR 1500 crores. It is the fourth largest player in the offline payments industry. It raised $370 million in a primary and secondary mix as part of a Series E investment round led by a new investor, New York-based Tiger Global Management. It propelled it to the list of Unicorn Companies.
Founded in 2014 by Sriharsha Majety, Nandan Reddy, and Rahul Jaimini, Swiggy is an Indian online food delivery platform. The founders, despite facing setbacks in previous ventures, pooled their expertise from IIT/IIM backgrounds and startup experience to launch Swiggy. The surge in India’s urban population and the rise of nuclear families where both partners work have fueled the demand for FoodTech services like on-demand delivery, cloud kitchens, and restaurant discovery.
Swiggy distinguished itself by prioritizing logistics and operating its delivery fleet instead of relying on restaurants or third-party services. This strategic move provided a significant competitive edge. Recently, Swiggy joined India’s unicorn club after securing $210 million in funding led by DST and Naspers, valuing the company at $1.2 billion. The funds were utilized to expand its supply chain network, venture into new markets, and bolster its engineering and technology teams.
Naveen Tewari, Abhay Singhal, Mohit Saxena, and Piyush Shah
India’s Unicorn Companies – Swiggy
Glance is an Indian artificial intelligence-based software company that delivers personalized content directly to smartphone lock screens. Its mission is to transform mobile shopping through a unique creator-led commerce strategy, leveraging influencers and celebrities to promote products directly to users on their phone’s lock screen. Co-founded in 2019 by Naveen Tewari, Abhay Singhal, Mohit Saxena, and Piyush Shah, Glance operates as a subsidiary of InMobi.
In an impressive feat, Glance achieved unicorn status within just 20 months by securing $145 million in primary investment from Google and existing investor Mithril Capital. This substantial funding valued Glance at over $1 billion, cementing its status as one of India’s fastest-growing startups at the time.
Glance acquired Roposo, a short-form video platform, to further enhance its offerings to integrate vernacular video content into its platform. The funding was also directed towards strengthening AI capabilities across Glance and Roposo, expanding the technology team, launching new services, enhancing the brand, and facilitating global expansion.
FAQs
Which are the key sectors driving the emergence of fast-growing unicorns?
Key sectors driving the emergence of fast-growing unicorns include financial services, software-as-a-service (SaaS), logistics, transportation, and education technology.
When did Mensa Brands become a unicorn?
Mensa Brands became a unicorn, with a valuation of more than one billion dollars, just six months after it was founded. It raised $135 million in a Series B fundraising round headed by Falcon Edge’s Alpha Wave Ventures, valued at $1.2 billion.
What is Apna?
Apna provides a platform for job seekers to create profiles showcasing their skills, education, and work experience. Users can search for job opportunities, directly contact companies, schedule interviews, and ultimately secure employment.
Which are rapidly evolving Indian unicorn firms?
Some rapidly evolving Indian firms that have quickly earned association in the elite unicorn club are as follows:
B2B stands for Business to Business and when there is a transaction of any product or service between two business firms it is said to be a B2B transaction. Payment in such a transaction might be in the form of money or any other kind. This means that it can be a transaction that is quite regular like buying a product or service using money as a means of payment or it can be in the form of barter exchange as well. In barter exchange, two firms can render their services or products to each other instead of paying money.
In the case of monetary transactions, the payment method is quite different from how consumers pay the firms. There is a good deal of difference between the payment method of B2C and B2B transactions. Generally, when there is a B2B transaction, orders are placed in bulk whereas, B2C transactions are rather made in smaller batches since they are for direct consumption. In B2C transactions, there is also the provision of discounts and offers which is usually not present in B2B transactions. Hence, the mode of payment also requires some special alterations when a business is paying a business.
Such transactions required a lot of effort in the earlier times but with the advent of payment startups, the entire process of transactions has become extremely convenient for businesses. These startups are designed to provide technological solutions for a secure and seamless payment experience for businesses. They make use of several apps and widgets that make financial transactions hassle-free at people’s fingertips. Some of the popular startups that support B2B payments in India include BharatPe, EnKash, Airpay, Udaan, etc.
In today’s time, B2B transactions have become more convenient and secure due to the presence of many payment startups. The following are some of the most popular B2B payment startups in India:
BharatPe
BharatPe – B2B Payments Startup in India
BharatPe is a B2B fintech company that focuses on helping small to mid-scale business owners accept payments through all the UPI applications using a single BharatPe QR code. The startup also offers loans to merchants. It was founded by Bhavik Koladiya, Ashneer Grover, and Shashvat Nakrani, in the year 2018 and is headquartered in New Delhi. BharatPe has recently partnered with NBFCs for a program called the “12% Club”. This program shall provide a chance to consumers to invest in BharatPe and earn interest up to 12% without the presence of any lock-in period. Also, consumers can borrow money at the interest rate of 12%.
EnKash
EnKash – B2B Payments Startup in India
It is a B2B payment management and financial assistance platform. This application enables a company to check their cash flow management, and invoices, and most importantly track payments to suppliers or from consumers. It also helps to connect vendors, corporates, and credit givers easily. The company was founded in the year 2016 by Hemant Vishnoi. In, 2020, SBM Bank, YAP, RuPay, and EnKash joined hands to launch the most full-scale business credit card ever, the SBM EnKash RuPay business card.
Airpay
Airpay – B2B Payments Startup in India
This is another popular B2B payment startup in India that helps retail and eCommerce companies to collect contact-less payments easily. Airpay was founded by Amit Kapoor, Kunal Jhunjhunwala, and Rohan Deshpande in the year 2012. The company has its headquarters in Mumbai. The payment platform renders services like net banking, digital payments, mobile POS, payment gateway, contactless payments, financial inclusion, open banking, and financial services.
Udaan
Udaan – B2B Payments Startup in India
Udaan is one of the largest B2B platforms for businesses in India. It was founded in the year 2016 by Vaibhav Gupta, Sujeet Kumar, and Amod Malviya. The startup has its headquarters in Bangalore. It operates in fields like staples, electronics, FMGC, lifestyle, home and kitchen, fruits and vegetables, pharma, and more. The platform helps farmers, small brands, and manufacturers to sell their products to retailers and customers with guaranteed safety and transparency. It helps make the buying and selling process easy with secure payments and smooth logistics.
The name of the startup is pretty evidently derived from the accounting term G-Invoicing. Ginvoicing is a company based in Ludhiana and was founded in the year 2017 by Tarun Jangra. It is a platform that allows you to manage your business easily and more effectively. The platform is meant to solve all your GST-related hassles. It helps collect online payments, accounting, inventory management, collating sales, marketing, purchase data, and more.
Benow
Benow – B2B Payments Startup in India
Another popular B2B payment startup in India is Benow. It was founded by Sudhakar Ram and Soorraj VS in the year 2016. Benow is a platform that specializes in payments and retail space. The startup was formed to promote digital payments and to empower small and medium-scale businesses, brands, and NGOs. It also enables users to get bundle products, EMI, credit points, and much more. The platform is highly focused on Buy Now Pay Later model.
Bulk MRO
Bulk MRO – B2B Payments Startup in India
Another popular name on the list of B2B payment startups in India is Bulk MRO. It is a global supply chain finance platform incorporated in the year 2015, in Mumbai by Gaurang Shah and Devang Shah. Bulk MRO is a trustworthy name in supplying industrial products and emergency goods. It is a B2B platform that helps government healthcare networks and corporations in their operations not only in India but around the globe.
It is a gaming platform founded in the year 2016 in Gurgaon by Akshat Rathee. Initially, NovaPlay was used to pay money for buying games. However, now it has also introduced B2B payment processing services.
Conclusion
Business to Business payments used to be a complex process but with the advancement of technology, many startups have emerged that have made it more convenient and secure. The above-mentioned are some of the most known B2B payment startups in India that are revolutionizing the way transactions used to be made earlier.
FAQs
What is a B2B startup?
B2B startups are also known as enterprise startups. Such startups sell products or services to other businesses rather than or in addition to the individual consumers.
How do I receive a B2B payment?
The following are the ways to make and receive B2B payments:
Checks
Credit cards
ACH transfers
Electronic fund transfers
Online payment platforms
Which are some popular B2B payment startups in India?
Some of the most popular B2B payment startups in India are:
The top executives of a company are some of the most important people for their business. The CEOs, CFOS and other executives are actually responsible for the overall success of a company, all the significant decisions are taken by them and they are the people that keep the business together. However, we all know ‘Teamwork makes the dream work.’ Apart from the executives being the brain of the company, the employees are also the heart and a business needs both for their survival.
An employee can be said to be the most important asset of an organization, they are the ones with whose help the proper functioning of a business can happen. Although, they are the subordinates of the top executives they are as important as them. Plus the executive’s behaviour in real life shows their actual character; their behaviour makes them the person they are. Recently, a few actions of some top executives with people of lower rank have created big controversies and they are on the end of receiving backlashes. Companies are surely suffering because of that, images of those companies are crumbling down and investors are now in turmoil about who to trust and who to not.
Therefore Investors now have decided to launch investigations to examine the behaviour of founders, CEOs and other executives of a startup in their daily lives. In this article, we will find out what has led to this situation and how investigations are conducted. So without any further ado, let’s get started.
“The way your employees feel is the way your customers will feel. And if your employees don’t feel valued, neither will your customers.” -Sybil F. Stershic
This entire situation started when an audio clip of Ashneer Grover, the co-founder of BharatPe was seen doing rounds on social media where it can be heard that Grover is insulting, threatening and abusing a bank employee. Although the co-founder of BharatPe denied the accusation, Kotak has decided to take legal action against Grover for hurling abuses and using inappropriate language while communicating with the bank’s employee.
A few days later an email exchange between Hashjit Sethi of Sequoia India came up where again Grover was seen using abuses while conversing with the former. Post this scenario, Ashneer Grover decided to take a leave of absence for two months.
Similar Past Incidents
The case of Ashneer Grover was not the first one and it is certainly not going to be the last, as similar incidents are surfacing recently. As we dwell deeper, there are instances where these types of the same situations have occurred in the past. Some of the incidents are:
The former CEO of Flipkart, Binny Bansal shocks the world when he resigns from his position after he faced allegations of serious personal misconduct in 2018, an investigation was conducted followed by the allegations.
In 2018, ICICI Bank’s then CEO and managing director Chanda Kochhar faced allegations of nepotism and multiple agency probes against her, this situation led to her quitting her job.
Another instance happened when Manu Sawhney, the CEO of ICC was instructed to go on leave when an investigation by a UK based agency happened where it shows his behavioural misconduct. He was allegedly behaved arrogantly and was firing employees without any proper reason plus he was also bullying many staff members. This led to an investigation and he was asked to go on leave.
In 2022, fashion E-commerce site, Zilingo suspended Ankiti Bose, the Chief executive and Indian founder of the E-commerce site for some alleged irregularities in the accounting part of the company. This has led to her suspension which is valid till 5th May 2022.
Why Investors are Investigating Top Executives?
The step was taken after the controversial situation of BharatPe’s Co-founder Ashneer Grover arose. Investors are now concerned so they are taking the help of investigating firms and forensic teams of known accounting companies to conduct an investigation on the behaviours of top executives. These things are done to make sure:
There will be no controversies regarding their behaviour which may lead to a bad image of the startup.
To decrease the chances of fraud-related issues in the company in the future.
Misbehaviour of top executives is actually a red flag for the investors that things might go wrong in the near future if they carry on with their behaviour. If a wrong executive is hired, it will harm the brand image of the company.
What Are the Important Things Investigators Are Investing?
A person behaviour’s toward their subordinates or the people who are of lesser rank shows the actual personality of a person. A startup depends on the hard work and the passion that can be found in the executives but its image also depends on the character of the key executives. The work culture of a company is extremely important. The key things of executives that are getting investigated are:
Their behaviour with their subordinates.
Their social media behaviour and if they are getting into petty arguments that are not necessary.
If they have any illegal substances with them or consume them.
If there is any traffic violation done by them.
Conclusion
Just because someone is in a higher position doesn’t mean that they have the right to misbehave with others. Being humble and kind is never a mistake; in fact, it gives a safe feeling to your subordinates that they are in the right company. Toxic culture will only lead to bad performance as well as a bad image of the . also helps in strengthening the brand image of the company.
FAQs
Why are investors investigating top executives?
After the Ashneer Grover controversy, many investors were worried about getting their brand image tarnished which led them to investigate top execs’ behaviour.
What are the things investigators are investing against the top executives?
Investors are hiring firms to investigate the behaviour of founders and top executives on social media and their behaviour towards their employees.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
BharatPe became very popular after its launch in 2018 among businessmen as it solved a unique problem. BharatPe’s boost generally happened during the pandemic when no payment app was charging transaction fees below 1.5%. This was the time when BharatPe cashed in on the opportunity. They made transactions absolutely free.
This is why a lot of business owners who had to do large transactions daily, shifted to BharatPe. Today, it has more than 7.5 million active users in its app. Apart from providing free transactions, it also has solved a number of other problems. There is also a lot more to see about the business model which has grown to such an extent in such a small time. So, without any further ado, let us talk about the BharatPe business model.
BharatPe is a fintech company headquartered in Bangalore. This payment aggregator has enabled transactions without any kind of fees. It has leveraged UPI to enable this. It is a QR-based payment aggregator by which you can do any kind of transaction using the app.
BharatPe was founded by Ashneer Grover, Bhavik Koladiya, and Shashvat Nakrani. All of these founders have a great profile. Ashneer Grover and Shashvat Nakrani are alumni of IIT Delhi. Ashneer Grover is a resident of South Delhi and has also graduated from IIT Delhi. He has been working with startups for a pretty long time. Previously he was also the CFO of Grofers, the grocery e-commerce giant. Ashneer has also led the Corp Dev for Amex India.
Bhavik Koladiya has decent knowledge and experience about Fintech in general. He is heading the product and technology of the company.
Shashvat Nakrani is originally from Bhavnagar and is a student of IIT Delhi of 2015-2019. He has done his B-Tech in Textile engineering.
Business Model of BharatPe
BharatPe has a very unique business model and because of this, it has grown exponentially. The major growth of BharatPe happened during the pandemic. In this time, they devised a smart method to expand. They leveraged UPI to enable absolutely free transactions. BharatPe was providing this when its competitors were charging fees less than 1.5 %. This is why a lot of vendors started moving to BharatPe.
Making transactions free encouraged more people to use the platform. It also kind of did indirect marketing of BharatPe. When the vendors came on this platform, they started exploring the platform in a great way. The platform has been designed as a one-stop solution for all kinds of payments. They have devised various kinds of products to cater to the people.
The company has launched the Xtraincome card which is an easy transaction solution, very helpful for business owners. It also gives you a cashback of 1% whenever you do a transaction with it.
BharatPe XtraIncome Card
These applications are actually solving the main pain points of the businessman. Apart from this, they have also introduced BharatSwipe which is an innovative card swapping system. Another product is called BharatPe digital gold.
BharatPe earns its revenue by providing macro to microloans to its business owner. A working professional or businessmen get loans very easily but small business owners face problems while applying for the loan as their CIBIL score is low.
BharatPe tracks the person’s transaction using its various products like Xtremecards and evaluates their capability to return the loan. According to it, they provide microloans to small businessmen without much paperwork. They do not provide loans using the CIBIL score. This solution accurately serves the pain points of small businesses. This is the main source of revenue for the app.
BharatPe Funding
BharatPe has raised a total of $700 million. They have presently gone through 12 rounds of funding. Apart from that, the company has raised a debt of 100 crores. They have secured funding of $370 million from Tiger Global Management. Apart from that they also have acquired funding from Dragoneer group, Ribbit Capital, Coatue Management.
What is Unique about BharatPe
Recently BharatPe has upgraded itself by collaborating with NBFC which are allowed to launch a 12% club by the RBI. This will give them a lot of benefits as compared to its competitor’s who are having the same product. This is because now any customer can go ahead and invest and can get upto 12% interest. They can borrow upto 10 lakhs.
Growth of BharatPe
Since its inception in 2018, this company has shown rapid growth. Today BharatPe ranks 4th after Paytm, Google Pay, and PhonePe in terms of users. Apart from that, it was quick in releasing products which actually solved the problem of merchants and the public at large. Services like 0% fees on any transaction. Products like BharatSwipe and Xtraincome card are unique innovations to solve customer problems. They have also come up with innovative gold loans schemes.
BharatPe has an impressive business model. The whole business is working around solving various pain points of small businesses. Their products are reliable which has led to their word-of-mouth marketing initially. Today they have more than a million merchants using their platforms. BharatPe’s business model is a unique model and an entrepreneur can learn a lot from them.
FAQs
What does BharatPe do?
BharatPe is designed as a fintech company to empower small merchants and kirana shop owners. The company brings QR codes for UPI payments, Bharat Swipe, and an array of fintech products, including small business financing and more.
How many people use BharatPe?
BharatPe serves 7.5 million+ merchants in more than 140 cities of India, as of January 2022.
How does BharatPe make money?
BharatPe earns revenue by providing loans to small business merchants. A major portion of the BharatPe revenue comes from its merchants and its lending products.
Who created BharatPe?
Ashneer Grover and Shashvat Nakrani founded BharatPe in 2018.
Is BharatPe a government company?
No, BharatPe is a private fintech company founded by Ashneer Grover and Shashvat Nakrani in 2018.
Bharatpe was launched back in March 2018 and since then it has created a buzz all over the country. The company caters to small store owners like the Kirana store owners and other small merchants. Its primary products and services are all finance-related because it offers QR codes for making UPI payments, Bharat Swipe for card acceptance, and other small business finances.
Bharatpe came out when there was tight competition among those who were already doing well in the market like Paytm, Phonepe, and other such companies. It was quite surprising that within two years, Bharatpe grew so much and is now looking forward to getting its banking license in India.
This is quite unusual because it is not something that happens with every business which has just started in the financial market. For a company like Bharatpe, this is a great achievement.
Founder of BhataPe-Ashneer Grover on license for India’s 1st digital small finance bank
About Bharatpe
Bharatpe Logo
Bharatpe is not a government-owned company but is a private one. The owner of Bharatpe is Ashneer Grover and has its head office based in Delhi. This free application can be used by anyone to make payments by scanning QR codes or people can even make card payments through ‘Swipe’.
Merchants can sign up for the application free of cost and can start accepting payments from their customers instantly. The transactions that are made between the merchants/shop owners/ Kirana store owners/ shopkeepers are done directly through the bank accounts of both parties.
Bharatpe application can be used to scan all types of QR codes whether it is a Paytm code, Phonepe or Gpay, or any other UPI app. Additionally, for every transaction you make using Bharatpe, there will be no amount deducted as ‘transaction charges’ which is so much of a standout feature of the app.
Bhavik Koladia (Group Head – Product & Technology)
Suhail Sameer (Group President)
Bharatpe’s Bold Move for getting Banking License
Bharatpe will be joining the $1 billion unicorn club valuation within the next few months or a year and along with it, they are going to be the half-owner of a bank in India. Jaspal Bindra, who was a former Standard Chartered Bank Asia Pacific CEO will be the owner of the other half of the bank.
Now, coming to the bold move that Bharatpe has made is that they will be setting up a small finance bank in approval with the Reserve Bank of India. However, Bharatpe will not be the only one to do so because Centrum Financial Services will also be a part of the new ‘small finance bank’.
Bharatpe is about to take over the crisis-ridden banks Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank and soon after that, they will be setting up its small finance bank. Also, thanks to RBI for granting a license to Bharatpe for taking such an initiative to keep the services of these banks running.
RBI has granted the banking license to Bharatpe for the first time after six years. Bharatpe had announced that a former head of SBI, Rajnish Kumar will be joining as a chairman of the board and will be acting as a mentor as well for setting up SFB.
Bharatpe is now India’s leading fintech company which is dealing with UPI payments primarily. But, that is now how the company generates its income. In an interview with India TV, the CEO and the co-founder of the company, Ashneer Grover said that the company is into lending businesses as well.
The company offers a payment system to the merchants for free so that they can become an integral part of their business. But, the company earns its revenues by conducting lending business. Bharatpe also offers loans to the merchants within 5 minutes as said by the CEO & Co-founder, Ashneer Grover.
Bharatpe offering loans is also one of the features that are new to the market along with merchant-to-merchant lending. Ashneer Grover, in an interview with India TV, said that all documentation of taking a loan can be done in the smartphone itself and within five minutes the money would be transferred to the merchant’s bank account.
Conclusion
Bharatpe’s business has been expanding over the last 3-4 months growing from 65 cities to 100 cities during the time. Suhail Sameer, Group President of Bharatpe said in an interaction with the Economic Times said that the company grew significantly within two years.
With the growing usage of digital payments, Bharatpe might become the leader of e-payment in India. The company is planning to expand its business further to 300 more cities by March 2023.
FAQs
Is Bharatpe approved by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)?
Yes, Bharatpe has been approved by the RBI and has been granted a license to set up a small finance bank in India.
Is Bharatpe free?
Bharatpe is completely free of cost. The company does not charge any transaction fee.
Who is the founder of Bharatpe?
Ashneer Grover and Shashvat Nakrani has founded Bharatpe on March 20, 2018.
Over the last four years, the Indian entrepreneurship ecosystem has risen from 35K startups in 2016 to more than 55K startups in 2020 with more than $48.7 billion being raised during the revealed rounds of investment. As a result of the exponential growth in consumer demand and the increased use of digital goods and services by individuals and firms, more than 15+ unicorns have arisen in India since 2018. The word Soonicorn applies to start-ups that could become Unicorns whereas a unicorn is a startup carrying a value of up to $ 1 billion.
Now let’s take a look at a list of the Soonicorns of India:
MobiKwik is an Indian organization founded in 2009 offering a digital wallet and a mobile payment system. Online wallets may be used for purchases to add money to their clients. The Bank of India reserve approved MobiKwik’s e-wallet to be used by the company in 2013 and began providing customers with small loans for its service in May 2016.
CRED was founded by Kunal Shah in November 2018, after an investment of $1 M in Bangalore, India. CRED is an Indian credit card bill transferring app. CRED has been mentioned among the future unicorns by CB Insights in June 2020.
PayMate provides a cloud-based network for big businesses and SMBs to move from slow, expensive forms, such as cash and checks, to digital payments in real-time. It digitizes the entire payment period to boost overall performance and minimize time, commitment, energy, and costs by more than 50 percent.
BharatPe plans to make the deal via (15-day) deposits due to the dealer commercializing interest. In case of an emergency, dealer partners can, in 15 days from the deal, cancel the settlement by paying a withdrawal charge of 1 percent.
5. Capital Float
Capital Float Logo
Capital Float was formed in 2013 and became the country’s largest digital lender. SMEs working in sales, trade, and logistics are given working capital loans. They also fund online and offline customer transactions by way of various A-list alliances.
6. Acko
Acko Logo
Acko is an Indian general insurance company that is in the private sector. In line with a digital model, Acko offers a digital forum for all market activities for the company. The business seeks to promote startups as well. Acko expanded the financing of Amazon, Accel Partners, SAIF Partners, and Catamaran Ventures by 274 crores in 2018.
7. Lendingkart
Lendingkart Logo
Lendingkart Finance aims to ensure credit availability for SMEs who either have no or currently lack capital access to credit. The organization plans to pay out loans within 72 hours with limited paperwork. It seeks to transform small business loans by making it easier for small and medium-sized enterprises to access lending. Data security is very important for Lendingkart Community. All the details are kept private.
KhataBook is a smartphone application that helps small business owners and Kirana stores handle their books in India by helping them track the money owing by means of a digital directory. Both data collected on the Khata Book App are kept safely in the maintained database. Password-protected access to the database is tightly restricted. In accordance with technical advances, the security procedures are checked and revised periodically.
9. Fino Paytech
Fino Paytech Logo
Fino Paytech is an innovator, industry pioneer, and entrepreneur for organizations such as banks, government, and insurance companies.
They are a corporate and technical banking network in combination with a wide variety of services. They even facilitate end-to-end consumer procurement and maintenance as an alternative banking platform. Innovation has tackled the problems of the serviceability and scalability of existing banking networks.
The goal of Vivriti Capital is to build the largest and most significant financial network service that serves a customer base for institutions, corporations, small businesses, and people lacking efficient access to financial services. Their site CredAvenue is a one-stop solution to prospect, assess, conduct, and track debt. It’s an interactive business debt network.
Soonicorns are tech companies, fintech, or businesses with the potential to become Unicorns in the future.
What is a startup unicorn?
In the venture capital industry, the term unicorn refers to any startup that reaches the valuation of $1 billion. The term was first coined by Aileen Lee, founder of Cowboy ventures when she referred to the 39 startups that had a valuation of over $1 billion as unicorns.
Is there any Unicorn in India?
India now has 37 unicorns, having added 16 to the list in 2020. It stands third in global country rankings, well behind the US and China, but ahead of the UK and Germany.
What is a tech unicorn?
Unicorn is the term used in the venture capital industry to describe a startup company with a value of over $1 billion. Some popular unicorns include Airbnb, Uber, SpaceX, Robinhood, and SoFi.
Conclusion
In 2021 the startups that are performing well and are the most profitable will turn soonicorns. By the market size of these startups, we can expect new startups emerging as unicorns this year. Startups into Fintech, EdTech, and MedTech domains are in much demand due to the Covid-19. There is high demand for these startups and have the potential to grow in the coming days. We are seeing more startups in the field of FinTech. Fintech is the lead because digital payments have profoundly infiltrated metro and Tier 1 cities and now, other financial digital assets, such as finance, insurance, and neobanking, are more likely to become the addressable basis. In particular, lending firms and payments have been the main contributors to our soon-to-be-finished list.
Jeenal Jain
