Suhail Sameer To Step Down As BharatPe CEO

Amid an ongoing leadership exodus at fintech major BharatPe, media reports have surfaced which suggest that its chief executive Suhail Sameer is also stepping down from the company.

Sameer has been overseeing BharatPe after the controversy that has surrounded the fintech over the past 12 months or so which led to the exit of cofounder and MD Ashneer Grover over allegations of financial misappropriation.

Sameer joined BharatPe in August 2020 as president. As Grover’s focus shifted from managing day-to-day operations to get a banking licence, all leaders at BharatPe were asked to report to Sameer. He was formally appointed CEO in August 2021.

When reached out by Inc42, BharatPe confirmed the development and stated that Sameer is transitioning from being the CEO to a strategic advisor effective January 7, 2023.

“This will ensure a smooth transition for current CFO, Nalin Negi who has been appointed interim CEO to partner with senior executives to bolster execution in all phases of the company’s business,” said BharatPe in a statement.

Nalin Negi was appointed BharatPe CFO in August 2022, having worked most recently as the CFO of SBI Card. Nalin has also worked in the past as Co-CEO for the GE SBI credit card venture.

Speaking on the development, Sameer said in a statement, “I remain committed to supporting BharatPe to achieve its growth potential in the role as Strategic Advisor and look forward to the next phase of my journey as a full-time investor.”

The development also comes at a time when Grover has levied serious allegations against Sameer in his book and on Twitter. In his book, Grover called Suhail Sameer one of his biggest hiring mistakes at BharatPe, along with three others.

The development of Sameer stepping down was first reported by Mint.

Top Brass At BharatPe Leaving

Sameer’s transition will be the latest in several departures over the last few months at the company. Last month, three senior executives left BharatPe, including CTO Vijay Aggarwal, PostPe head Nehul Malhotra, and Rajat Jain, chief product officer for lending and consumer products.

In August, one of the founding members Satyam Nathani quit BharatPe to join OTPLess as a cofounder. Bhavik Koladiya, BharatPe’s cofounder and head of the tech and product teams, quit the company in July last year to join Finix Ventures as a managing partner.

Earlier this week, Koladiya announced that he will join OTPLess as the CEO.

OTPLess is a curious place as many of the top leaders at BharatPe have joined Nathani there. Bhavik’s wife Dharti Koladiya is also listed as a director of the company. Tanmay Sagar, who was also a founding member at BharatPe, launched OTPLess in 2021.

Interestingly, OTPLess also counts BharatPe and PostPe as its clients, suggesting that all love is not lost between the people and the company.

Nishit Sharma, the company’s chief revenue officer left BharatPe in May, along with Chandrima Dhar, former head of institutional debt.

Incidentally, of the original cofounders, only Shashvat Nakrani continues to be associated with BharatPe. Koladiya and Nakrani founded BharatPe in July 2017, with the startup being incorporated till March 2018. Grover joined the company in June 2018.

The leadership exodus is happening at a time when BharatPe is keen to put the negative publicity behind it. Media reports from April also suggested that the company is working to achieve profitability and preparing itself for an IPO in the next 18-24 months.

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Update | January 3, 2023, 11:30 AM

The story has been updated with BharatPe’s comments