Four months after former cofounder and MD Ashneer Grover’s exit, BharatPe original founder Bhavik Koladiya has also quit the company.
He was an independent consultant with the fintech unicorn overseeing its tech and product verticals. In response to BusinessLine queries, Koladiya said he plans to take some time off after the exit and his decision to quit is not related to disagreements with anybody.
Koladiya added that he is the largest individual shareholder in BharatPe and plans to continue holding BharatPe shares even after the company’s IPO. Earlier on Tuesday, a financial publication reported that Koladiya’s exit was related to his disagreements with BharatPe CEO Suhail Sameer.
“I have been relentlessly at it for five years. I want to focus on balancing my work and family. I am a zero to one guy who likes to keep innovating with new ideas. From the day I and Shashvat founded BharatPe, we have always believed and worked towards making BharatPe into a movement that will outlive and outgrow our own ambitions. BharatPe is now a very late stage company with a strong management team and clear path to profitability and IPO. BharatPe is one of my largest investments and I intend to continue to stay invested for the foreseeable future. BharatPe’s brightest days are ahead of it. Everything else is just gossip and rumors,” Koladiya said in a statement.
Koladiya and Shashvat Nakrani incorporated BharatPe in March 2018 and both held 50 per cent stake in the company. The company’s shareholding changed in June 2018, when Grover joined BharatPe as the third co-founder and took a 32 per cent stake in the company. Koladiya still continued to hold 42.5 per cent stake in BharatPe.
As Sequoia joined BharatPe’s board in December 2018, Koladiya’s name was removed from the list of founders. Koladiya’s conviction for credit card fraud by a US court in 2015 is said to have concerned investors, leading to the company changing his formal role to an independent consultant.
Commenting on Koladiya’s exit, a BharatPe spokesperson said, “Bhavik Koladiya has been associated with BharatPe as an Independent Consultant, guiding our Product and Technology teams. His contract tenure ended on July 31, 2022 and he expressed his desire to spend time on other assignments outside BharatPe. Bhavik has been one of our biggest advocates and has been an integral part of our journey in becoming one of India’s largest fintech companies. While we wish him the very best, we are also sure that he will continue to guide us in the future as well, as and when we need.”