Bharat pe

The controversies surrounding BharatPe has brought the spotlight upon the need for a robust corporate governance in startups in India. According to the Economic Survey 2021-22, India has become the 3rd largest ecosystem for startups in the world on the heels of the US and China. There are over 61,400 startups in India with 95 of them having achieved 'unicorn'

The BharatPe episode, which shocked the startup industry, has startled Bengaluru, known as the startup capital of India.The incident has also rang alarm bells among many startups, which are going easy on financial discipline. Industry insiders feel that while the investors want to double their money, founders of startups want to settle down as soon as they get investments, without even bothering to think about the future of the workforce.

The Ashneer Grover-BharatPe tussle that hogged the limelight since January has brought to the fore the need to fix corporate governance while maintaining moral integrity at the very top in the burgeoning Indian startup ecosystem. The Ashneer Grover-BharatPe tussle that hogged the limelight since January has brought to the fore the need to fix corporate governance while maintaining moral integrity at the very top in the burgeoning Indian startup ecosystem.

Ashneer Grover, who quit fintech platform BharatPe he co-founded amid serious allegations of financial wrongdoings against him and his wife, has hit back at the Board of the company, saying he is "appalled at the personal nature of the BharatPe Board's statement, but not surprised".BharatPe said it reserves all rights to take further legal action against him and his family.

Fintech platform BharatPe on Wednesday revealed for the first time that Ashneer Grover, his wife Madhuri Jain, and their relatives were engaged in extensive misappropriation of company funds and grossly abused company money to fund their lavish lifestyles

Ending months-long saga that kept the fintech platform BharatPe in headlines for all the wrong reasons, its Co-founder and Managing Director Ashneer Grover has finally quit minutes after receiving the agenda for upcoming Board meeting, saying that he was being forced to bid adieu to a company he had founded.

“I say with my head held high that today this company stands as a leader in the fintech world. Since the beginning of 2022, unfortunately, I’ve been embroiled in baseless and targeted attacks on me and my family by a few individuals who are ready not only to harm me and my reputation but also harm the reputation of the company, which they are ostensibly trying to protect,” Mr. Grover wrote in a letter to the board.

Sources close to the development said that the ongoing governance review at the fintech platform, scheduled to be submitted this week, has found financial irregularities to the tune of over Rs 50 crore during the tenure of Madhuri Jain -- -- the wife of BharatPe Co-founder and Managing Director Ashneer Grover.

His arbitration failed to convince the EA to stop the ongoing governance review at BharatPe against him, sources told IANS. The Emergency Arbitrator has rejected all five grounds of his appeal. Grover had filed an arbitration plea with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC).In his appeal, Grover pleaded that the investigation was illegal because it violated the shareholder agreement and articles of association.

Reliable sources told IANS on Friday that Grover has wrongly valued Delhi-based merchant payments and financial services provider at nearly $6 billion while its actual valuation, after it raised $370 million in Series E round led by Tiger Global, was $2.85 billion in August last year. The company then became a unicorn (with valuation of $1 billion and above).