BharatPe Cofounder Bhavik Koladiya Quits The Fintech Major

BharatPe’s cofounder Bhavik Koladiya has left the company to join Finix Partners as Managing Director, his LinkedIn profile revealed.

A BharatPe statement confirming the development said, “Bhavik Koladiya has been associated with BharatPe as an independent consultant, guiding our product and technology teams. His contract tenure ended on July 31, 2022, and he expressed his desire to spend time on other assignments outside BharatPe.”

It is prudent to mention here that Koladiya was officially working as a consultant with BharatPe till before he left BharatPe at the end of last month.

Following Koladiya’s departure, Nakrani is the only cofounder still associated with BharatPe, after Grover’s much-publicised departure from the fintech major earlier this year.

Bhavik Koladiya, who had founded BharatPe with Shashvat Nakrani in 2018, was the fintech unicorn’s face in the early stages, leading its tech and product team. After Ashneer Grover joined the duo at BharatPe later in 2018, Koldaiya became the largest stakeholder in the company, with a 42.8% stake in BharatPe back then.

Koladiya was not immediately available for comment when reached out by Inc42. The story will be updated if there is a statement from Koladiya’s side.

Subsequent funding rounds diluted everyone’s shareholding. However, Koladiya still is the largest stakeholder in BharatPe, with a 5.75% stake, which is held in two parts by Grover and Nakrani. Out of Grover’s 8.4% stake, about 3.5% belongs to Koladiya. Nakrani holds about a 2.25% stake for Koladiya as well.

It is here to be highlighted that Koladiya was once convicted in a credit card fraud case in the US in 2015. This meant that he could not hold directorships in the US, further complicating matters for future fundraisers. Therefore, Koladiya’s stake was diluted in funding rounds and Grover and Nakrani held his stake.

Incidentally, Koladiya’s LinkedIn profile shows a rather interesting journey across his five-year stint at BharatPe. Starting as a founder in 2017, his role changed to cofounder and CEO in 2018. After Sequoia invested in BharatPe in 2018, Koladiya lost his status as cofounder because of his conviction in 2015, instead being named the CTO and CPO.

In 2020, Koladiya’s role changed again; this time he was appointed the group president. His last role update came in July 2022, when he was appointed the advisor to the founder.

The former cofounder has run BharatPe’s tech and product team from the start. Koladiya was also supposed to be in charge of tech consulting for Unity Bank, a joint venture between Centrum and BharatPe. Resilient Innovations, the parent company of BharatPe, also set up a new entity to offer technology services to Unity Bank.

Koladiya set up Finix Partners in May, a consulting firm, to offer services to Unity Bank.

However, a Mint report citing internal sources said that the partnership via Finix Partners is off the table now. The same report also noted that Koladiya’s departure has come after ‘disagreements’ with CEO Suhail Sameer.

Citing sources, the report added that Koladiya had decided to pursue legal action against former MD and cofounder Grover to recover his shares from him. Initially, the board asked the two cofounders to settle the matter among themselves.

However, Koladiya allegedly was told to not pursue legal action as settlement talks were underway with Grover. Following the same, Koladiya decided to move on, though he already had made up his mind to build something outside the fintech unicorn he cofounded in 2018.