After Flipkart, Binny Bansal Exits PhonePe Board

Flipkart cofounder Binny Bansal has stepped down from PhonePe’s board of directors, nearly ten months after making a similar move at the ecommerce major.

PhonePe said that it has also roped in Teamlease founder Manish Sabharwal as an independent director and chair of its audit committee. 

Bansal had been a board member of PhonePe since 2016, following Flipkart’s acquisition of the fintech giant.

Sabharwal, on the other hand, has experience across fields, including education, employment and policymaking. His previous roles include serving as an independent director at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and on policy boards like the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER).

“…His incredible depth of understanding of India’s macro economy, coupled with his leadership in shaping India’s policies for education, employment, and employability will be invaluable as PhonePe continues to work ahead towards our shared vision of a Viksit Bharat by 2047,” said PhonePe CEO Sameer Nigam.

In January, Bansal resigned from Flipkart citing a conflict of interest between his new B2B startup OppDoor and the ecommerce player.

Nigam said that Bansal’s “active engagement, strategic guidance, and personal mentorship have profoundly enriched our (PhonePe’s) discussions. Binny will be missed!”

Bansal’s new venture OppDoor is based out of Singapore, and deals in the B2B space of ecommerce segment, helping the companies with geographical expansion. OppDoor claims to partner with leading private-label brands to unlock their business potential. 

Notably, launched in 2015, PhonePe claims to have 575+ Mn registered users and a digital payments acceptance network of 40+ Mn merchants. PhonePe also claims to process over 300+ Mn daily transactions with an annualised Total Payment Value (TPV) of USD 1.8+ Tn. 

With more than INR 5,000 Cr in revenue in FY24, PhonePe also became the second fintech startup in India to get to this milestone after Paytm.  

It also narrowed its consolidated net loss by 28% to INR 1,996 Cr in FY24 from the INR 2,795 Cr

The company also released an annual report recently, matching the standards of corporate governance with public listed companies.