BharatPe co-founder Ashneer Grover resigned on Tuesday (March 1). He has written an emotional letter to the board of BharatPe. He has mentioned many things in it. It is written about Bharatpe’s journey so far and the bad behavior meted out to you. He has questioned the attachment of investors to BharatPe.
Grover writes about investors – The basic fact is that as an investor you are so far away from the truth that you have forgotten what a real business looks like and you have the effort it takes to run this enterprise day and night. There are no words for the date. Your vision of BharatPe is limited to the small window you used to see in the Zoom meeting application. None of you, even people living in India, have even visited our office. Not even once.
Grover further writes – The truth of the matter is that today you feel that my utility is complete, so slowly I am becoming a liability. And since the investor template has been to make the founder a villain to let him out when he doesn’t need it. That’s why you did this to me. When you had to use my personal network, you were happily using it. Today I am being insulted, I am being treated badly.
Also read: BharatPe MD Ashneer Grover resigns, said – I was forced to leave the company
Let us know how the journey of Bharatpe, which has been in the headlines for the past several weeks, has been in the eyes of Ashneer Grover:
BharatPe was launched in 2018. Today its valuation is around Rs 40,000 crore. The company has achieved such a huge valuation in just four years of its launch. It offers QR code to small and big shopkeepers, through which they accept UPI payment from the customer. The service accounts for 80 per cent of the company’s total annual payment volume of $16 billion.
It is true that QR code offerings account for the largest share of BharatPe’s total business volume, but its ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ (BNPL) service is growing rapidly. In just three months of its launch, the total payment volume of this service has reached $321 million.
BharatPe’s network covers about 100 cities. The company has also acquired a multi-brand loyalty platform. Its name is PAYBACK India. BharatPe acquired it in June 2021 from American Express and ICICI Investments Strategic Fund. The company has raised over $600 million in capital from Sequoia Capital India, Insight Partners, Steadfast Capital and Tigle Global.
In his resignation letter, Grover wrote – “I took care of Bharatpe like a baby. I created this along with my co-founder and raised a talented team of people. Most of the time the conditions were unfavourable but it kept me from moving forward. Couldn’t stop. BharatPe was the last company to enter the UPI space. It competed with giants like Paytm, PhonePe and GooglePay. Despite this, it emerged as the industry leader. 0% MDR, Loan Against Payments, 12%Club With P2P and BNP it was my vision to make a big difference in payments. With my efforts and hard work, the company has built a network of over 10 million shopkeepers who do 1,00,000 crore transactions annually and more than Rs 4,000 crore in loans. give as.”
He wrote – “Most importantly and for the first time for any FinTech in India – my persistent efforts led the company (BharatPe) to get the Small Finance Bank license to form Unity Small Finance Bank. I signed PMC Bank and its 10 lakh depositors. Showed courage and willingness to get back their hard earned money. The height IndiaPe stands at today is the result of hard work of the last four years. A team of less than 500 role-employees, less than $150 million spend and investors Everyone knows about BharatPe’s success story with the $615 million it raised from.”
Expressing grief over the controversy surrounding himself, Grover writes, “The truth of the matter is that today you feel that my utility is complete, so slowly I am becoming a liability. And since the investor template has been to make the founder a villain to let him out when he doesn’t need it. That’s why you did this to me. When you had to use my personal network, you were happily using it. Today I am being insulted, I am being treated badly.
Grover has also challenged the existing promoters of BharatPe. He wrote, “By making half of the value I have created so far, show you – I am leaving for you three times the funds that I have used till now. I resign as Managing Director of BharatPe, This is with immediate effect. I also resign as a Director of the Board. I will continue to be the single largest shareholder of this company.”
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