BharatPe Senior Exec Dhruv Dhanraj Bahl To Exit Fintech Unicorn

Dhruv Dhanraj Bahl, the former BharatPe chief operating officer (COO), who was recently appointed as the chief business officer for the merchant lending division, is set to quit the fintech startup in September.

“We would like to confirm that Mr. Bahl is moving on from BharatPe to pursue his entrepreneurial passions. He has been an integral part of the organisation and contributed to the growth of the company. We thank him for his contribution to BharatPe’s journey and wish him all the best for future endeavours,” a BharatPe spokesperson told Inc42.

“At BharatPe, the merchant lending business has grown significantly over the course of the last 1 year, under the able guidance of an experienced leadership team. BharatPe has a strong internal team that will continue to drive growth in the times to come,” the spokesperson added.

Bahl joined BharatPe in May 2020 as the head of operations and was instrumental in steering the company through its reorganisation after Ashneer Grover’s exit. Bahl is expected to launch an early-stage investment firm, in collaboration with former colleagues like Suhail Sameer and Bhavik Koladiya, as per a Mint report.

The development comes just a few weeks after former BharatPe CBO Pratekk Agarwaal announced the launch of GrowthCap Ventures, a SEBI-registered category II alternative investment fund (AIF), to invest in 12-15 startups over the next two years.

Since last year, BharatPe has seen exit of several senior executives, including chief technology officer Vijay Aggarwal, head of consumer product-PostPe Nehul Malhotra, chief product officer of lending and consumer products Rajat Jain, and vice president of technology Geetanshu Singla. In January, the fintech unicorn also saw the exit of its chief executive officer Suhail Sameer.

Founded in 2018, BharatPe enables merchants in accepting online payments via QR codes and PoS devices. In addition to its core services, the fintech unicorn also expanded into the buy now pay later segment last year. Since its launch, BharatPe has raised nearly $580 Mn till date and competes with the likes of Paytm, PhonePe, among others.

Presently, BharatPe is embroiled in a legal dispute with its former managing director, Ashneer Grover. In May, the company lodged a criminal complaint against the Grover and his family members, which was registered by the Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing.

In FY22, the fintech unicorn reported a loss of INR 5,610.7 Cr in FY22, up 3.4X from INR 1,619.2 Cr in FY21. Meanwhile, revenue from operations rose 283% year-on-year to INR 456.8 Cr during the year.