Sachin Bansal’s Navi Ropes In Meesho’s Vidit Aatrey As Independent Director

IPO-bound Navi Technologies has appointed Vidit Aatrey, cofounder and CEO of Meesho, as an independent director on its board. The appointment is effective from April 9, subject to completion of formalities.

With Vidit Aatrey’s appointment, Navi Technologies’ board now consists of four independent directors. The three other recently appointed independent directors are Abhijit Bose, Shripad Nadkarni, Usha Narayanan. 

“I am pleased to welcome Bobby (Abhijit), Shripad, Usha and, most recently, Vidit to our Board. They each bring a unique perspective and I believe they will add significant strategic value to Navi as we continue to grow. These appointments further reinforce our commitment to setting high standards in corporate governance,” Sachin Bansal, cofounder, Navi group, said.

Founded in 2018 by Bansal and Ankit Agarwal, Navi group offers a range of financial services and products such as personal loans, home loans, retail health insurance and mutual funds. 

Bose, head of India, WhatsApp, has been associated with many renowned organisations such as Oracle, Intuit. He was also the co-founder of Ezetap.

Nadkarni, a member of Maverix Platforms, has several decades of experience across consumer, pharmaceuticals, food and beverage and consulting industries. He worked with Coca-Cola India and Johnson & Johnson Private Limited for a combined period of 16 years.

Further, Narayanan has more than two decades of audit experience with Lovelock & Lewes Chartered Accountants LLP, a member firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she was a partner for a period of 15 years. 

Navi Technologies filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI to raise INR 3,350 Cr through an initial public offering (IPO) in March this year. Earlier in February, the fintech startup converted itself into a public company. 

Navi Technologies posted a profit of INR 71 Cr in FY21 after incurring a loss of INR 8 Cr in FY20. The fintech startup saw its total income rise by 252% from INR 221 Cr in FY20 to INR 780 Cr in FY21.

Navi competes against Policybazaar, Digit, Acko in the insurance space. In the mutual fund space, it competes against the likes of Paytm, Groww, Upstox, and Zerodha.