BharatPe CEO Suhail Sameer is stepping down the Chief Executive Officer position and will transition to the role of Strategic Advisor effective January 7, 2023. 

Sameer’s resignation comes on the heels of four senior exits in November 2022. This included Vijay Aggarwal, Chief Technology Officer; Nehul Malhotra, Head of BharatPe’s BNPL business, PostPe; Rajat Jain, Chief Product Officer- lending and consumer products; and  Geetanshu Singla, V-P Technology. BharatPe’s original founder Bhavik Koladiya and founding member Satyam Nathani have also exited the company in 2022. 

BharatPe’s current CFO, Nalin Negi has been appointed interim CEO. The Board of Directors has also retained a leading executive search firm to assist with succession planning and the CEO search.

Rajnish Kumar, Chairman, BharatPe Board said, “On behalf of the Board, we would like to thank Suhail for the tremendous contribution he made in steering BharatPe into a leadership position as a fintech player in India and helping us ride through various challenges during this journey. We have recognised the need to dedicate time and resources to finding the leader who will continue to catapult BharatPe to new heights, and we are grateful for the commitment from Suhail and Nalin. We look forward to supporting Nalin Negi in his role as the interim-CEO, as we move ahead in our mission of empowering millions of MSMEs with a range of world-class financial products.”

“Helping build BharatPe during this time of transition has been an honour and I know the company will continue to build for success. I remain committed to supporting BharatPe achieve its growth potential in the role as Strategic Advisor and look forward to the next phase of my own journey as a full-time investor,” said Sameer. 

New year resolution

In a Linkedin post on January 2, Sameer said one of his resolutions for the new year is to “continue investing in founders chasing their dreams. Invest in 20 more founder teams. Set up the fund I have been meaning to for the last couple of years.”

Nalin Negi joined BharatPe in August as Chief Financial Officer. Negi has over 28 years of experience and business acumen and the last 15 years of that has been in banking and financial services, having worked at renowned brands like GE Capital and SBI Card. Most recently, Negi was the CFO of SBI Card for over ten years, where he spearheaded strategic initiatives including leading SBI Card’s IPO in March 2020. He also worked in the past as Co-CEO for the GE SBI credit card venture.

“I’m grateful for this opportunity and am excited to lead BharatPe through this critical transition period for the company. We remain fully committed to our employees and customers and look forward to our continued success as a fintech leader in India,” Nalin Negi said in a press statement.

BharatPe has been in the centre of controversy in 2022 following the resurfacing of corporate governance issues at the fintech company. The company’s board has alleged its former co-founder and MD Ashneer Grover and his family of misappropriating company funds. The fintech unicorn has also filed a criminal case against Grover and his family members in December 2022.

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