BharatPe CEO steps down, CFO Nalin Negi to become interim CEO

BENGALURU:  Nearly a month after four senior-level executives exited BharatPe, on Tuesday, the company announced that its chief executive officer Suhail Sameer will step down from his position on January 7, and the current chief financial officer Nalin Negi will become the company’s interim CEO.

This is the company’s major exit after Bhavik Koladiya, who quit the company in July-end after Ashneer Grover.  In 2018, Koladiya’s role changed from the founder of the company to co-founder and CEO, and then again, he lost his co-founder status and instead was named the CTO of the company.

Now, the board of directors has retained an executive search firm to assist with succession planning and the CEO search. According to sources, Sameer has resigned from the company as he is looking to set up a venture capital fund. In November last year, Vijay Aggarwal, CTO; Rajat Jain, chief product officer for lending and consumer products; Nehul Malhotra, head of PostPe; and Geetanshu Singhla, VP-Technology, resigned from BharatPe.

Last month, the company filed a civil suit and a criminal complaint against its former MD Ashneer Grover for misappropriation of the company’s funds. Sameer took over as the CEO in August 2021, and during Ashneer Grover’s exit, he had told employees to trust the Board.

Rajnish Kumar, Chairman, BharatPe Board, thanked Sameer for his contribution in steering BharatPe into a leadership position as a fintech player in India and helping 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,” he said.