Read Ashneer Grover’s resignation letter sent to the BharatPe board

BharatPe cofounder Ashneer Grover
has resigned from the fintech firm and its board, capping nearly two months of excessive drama which unfolded after an audio clip surfaced on-line the place he allegedly abused a Kotak Mahindra Financial institution worker.

In an electronic mail despatched to the board, Grover stated he had been ‘vilified’ and handled within the ‘ most disrespectful method’ because the starting of the yr attacking the corporate’s traders.

Grover’s resignation comes on the again of Singapore Worldwide Arbitration Centre (SIAC) rejecting Grover’s emergency plea, final week, in opposition to the continued ‘governance evaluate’ inside the firm, giving him no aid within the matter.

Right here’s the entire textual content of Grover’s resignation to the BharatPe board:

Pricey Board,

I write this with a heavy coronary heart as right now I’m being compelled to bid adieu to an organization of which I’m a founder. I say with my head held excessive that right now this firm stands as a frontrunner within the fintech world. For the reason that starting of 2022, sadly, I’ve been embroiled in baseless and focused assaults on me and my household by a number of people who’re prepared not solely to hurt me and my repute but in addition hurt the repute of the corporate, which ostensibly they’re making an attempt to guard.

From being celebrated because the face of Indian entrepreneurship and an inspiration to the Indian youth to construct their very own companies, I’m now losing myself preventing an extended, lonely battle in opposition to my very own traders and administration. Sadly, on this battle, the administration has misplaced of what’s really at stake – BharatPe.

Individuals who know me and have labored intently with me know that I imagine in constructing – regardless of the odds could also be. I’m an IIT Delhi – IIM Ahmedabad graduate, one of the best of what Indian schooling system has to supply. I’m the kid of middle-class mother and father who’ve imbibed in me the values of onerous work, integrity and honesty. I’m an expert with an impeccable monitor file who has been instrumental in constructing two unicorn companies, i.e. Grofers and BharatPe from scratch. I’ve not solely inspired the youth of this nation to comply with their goals however have additionally created an area of job alternatives for tens of hundreds of India’s gig-economy staff. I’m proud that my journey and progress has not solely been restricted to me however has additionally encompassed inside its fold folks related to me, professionally and personally. In my endeavor to advertise and develop the start-up ecosystem in our nation, I’ve invested again what I’ve earned and have helped many alongside the way in which.

I’ve nurtured BharatPe as my child. I’ve constructed it together with my co-founder and a tremendous group of people. Most instances the circumstances had been hostile (to say the least) however it didn’t cease me. BharatPe was the final entrant in UPI house and competed with goliaths like Paytm, PhonePe and GooglePay – however it nonetheless emerged as a frontrunner within the trade. I had the imaginative and prescient to disrupt funds with ‘0% MDR’, lending with shopkeeper ‘loans in opposition to funds’, P2P with ‘12percentClub’ and BNPL with ‘postpe’. With my efforts and onerous work, the Firm has created a community of greater than 1 Crore (10M) shopkeepers who transact greater than Rs 100,000 Crores ($ 16B) yearly and lent out greater than Rs 4,000 crore ($ 0.5B) as loans. It’s indeniable that BharatPe loans have helped lakhs of small companies combat organized e-commerce and Covid.

Most significantly and the one time for any Fintech in India – with my fixed efforts the Firm has acquired a Small Finance Financial institution license to create ‘Unity Small Finance Financial institution’. I’ve proven the gumption and intent to discover a resolution for PMC Financial institution and Ten Lakh of its depositors to present them again their hard-earned funds.

The peak at which BharatPe stands right now is the results of the onerous work of the final 4 years. With a group of lower than 5 hundred on-roll workers, an combination spending of lower than US$ 150 Mn, and by elevating US$ 615 Mn from ten of the marquee traders with out utilizing a single banker, the success story of BharatPe is for everybody to see. Whereas scripting the business success of BharatPe, the Firm was additionally affording liquidity to our workers of greater than Rs 100 crores in opposition to their ESOPs and giving at the least Eighty instances returns to every of its twenty-eight angel traders. Whereas the Firm was valued at Rs 20,000 crores (US$ 3B) as per the Sequence E spherical; right now it could be valued at Rs 40,000 crores (US$ 6B), inside a span of lower than a yr. No different startup of comparable valuation has been capable of obtain what BharatPe has achieved right now that too by using lower than Rs 1,000 crores. Clearly, BharatPe’s success story is for the world to see.

Am I good? As each different human being does, I’m certain I’ve my follies. I’ve been instructed that I’m too straight ahead, headstrong, and have very demanding requirements when it comes work. However it’s these qualities which have resulted in BharatPe’s exponential progress in changing into an trade behemoth. Sadly, what has occurred within the latest previous appears to be a battle of egos being performed to the gallery of the media beneath the charade of “good governance”.

The elemental truth is that every one of you as traders are up to now faraway from actuality that you simply’ve forgotten what actual companies seem like and don’t have any appreciation for what it took to run this enterprise day in and time out. Your outlook in the direction of BharatPe has been restricted to the small window in your Zoom Conferences software, far faraway from the sweat of the forehead that goes into making BharatPe the enterprise chief that it’s. None of you, together with those based mostly in India, have ever been to our workplace even as soon as, because the andemic turned our lives the wrong way up and sought to suffocate the economic system. Not even as soon as. Not Micky. Not Harshjit. Not Mohit. Not Teru San. Not Rahul. Not Deven. Nobody. None of you even turned-up regardless of an invite for the inauguration of our new workplace. That is how linked you’re to BharatPe.

Your views of companies and issues on the bottom are so coloured by the home windows of the Ivory Tower through which you all reside that you simply haveno join in any way with the human ingredient of the enterprise. It’s unhappy that you’ve got even misplaced contact with the Founder. You’ve misplaced touchwith me. For you, the Founding father of this firm has been diminished to a button to be pressed when wanted. I stop to be a human for you. Immediately,you’ve chosen to imagine gossip and rumours about me as an alternative of getting a frank dialog. You’re so simply spooked as a result of you don’t have any contact with actuality.

The actual fact of the matter is that right now you imagine that I’ve served my utility and so incrementally I’m simply changing into a legal responsibility. And because the investor template to make an undesirable Founder go away is to make them the villain of the piece, that’s what you’ve gone forward and carried out – “Let’s invoke the SHA. Let’s put him on depart beneath the pretext of a governance evaluate. Let’s terminate his spouse’s employment. Let’s vilify his entire clan. We as traders are on high of the meals chain – let’s reduce him all the way down to dimension and make an instance of him.”

Whenever you wished to leverage my private community, you had been very pleased to take action – right now I’m being vilified and handled in essentially the most disgraceful method.

You deal with us Founders as slaves – pushing us to construct multi-billion-dollar companies and chopping us down at will. Investor-Founder relation in India is certainly one of Grasp-Slave. I’m the insurgent slave who have to be hung by the tree so not one of the different slaves can dare to be like me ever once more.

Sadly, I refuse to stroll that path and refuse to tolerate this steady and shameful vilification of me and my household. I’ve been the one who based this firm and constructed it as much as its enviable place right now, no marvel you need to oust me to your vested pursuits.

So when can we finish this? We finish this now. Whereas I preserve that you’ll not discover a single act of impropriety in opposition to me, I can’t be collaborating in your charade. Because you clearly imagine you’ll be able to run this Firm higher with out me – I’m leaving you with this problem. Construct incrementally even half of the worth I created up to now – I’m leaving you with thrice the funds I’ve utilized until date. I hereby resign because the Managing Director of BharatPe, efficient instantly. I additionally resign as a Director of the Board. I’ll proceed as the only largest particular person shareholder of the Firm.

I’ve based and constructed BharatPe into what it’s right now, and this id, none of you’ll be able to take away from me.

Finest regards,

Ashneer Grover