The domino effect of the top-level executives exiting from BharatPe has reached its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Suhail Sameer. Sameer has stepped down from his post but will continue to serve as the Strategic Advisor effective January 7, 2022
With the CEO being empty, the current Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Nalin Negi will take over as an interim CEO to partner with senior executives to bolster execution in all phases of the company's business, the fintech reported.
In recent months, three senior executives—chief technology officer (CTO) Vijay Aggarwal, PostPe head Nehul Malhotra, and chief product officer (CPO) for lending and consumer products Rajat Jain resigned from the fintech company.
Suhail Sameer, who has been overseeing the company after co-founder Ashneer Grover was brought down for the alleged financial misappropriation is the latest name added to the list.
The feud between Sameer and Grover has been the talk of the town for over a year. Sameer in recent weeks has once again come in for personal attacks by Grover, as the later responded to civil and criminal suits alleging fraud, filed by BharatPe, by unleashing a fusillade of disparaging tweets about erstwhile BharatPe colleagues.
Before taking over the position at BharatPe Sameer was reportedly associated as the CEO of the FMCG business at RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group. He joined BharatPe in August 2020 as president and in August 2022 he was formally promoted to the CEO of BharatPe.
In the past few months, most exits have occurred from the company's product and technology teams. In mid-2022, Nishit Sharma, chief revenue officer (CRO) and Satyam Nathani, BharatPe’s founding member, left the company.
Around the same time, the tech-backbone Bhavik Koladiya stepped down. Koladiya along with Shashvat Nakrani founded BharatPe in July 2017, although Ashneer Grover joined the company in June 2018.
Amidst the exits and alleged financial fraud, the company is said to be focused on achieving profitability and is preparing itself for an IPO in the next 18-24 months.
(With inputs taken from PTI)