BharatPe Co-Founder Ashneer Grover Resigns As Managing Director And CEO

Ashneer Grover, co-founder of financial technology firm BaharatPe, resigned from the company's board as managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) on Tuesday, news channel CNBC TV18 reported.

In his resignation letter Grover said that he was forced to resign from the company by its investors.

Grover in his resignation letter wrote, "i am being forced to bid adieu to a company of which I am a founder. I say with my head held high today this company stands as a leader in the fintech world. Since the beginning of 2022 , unfortunately I have 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 ostensibly they are trying to protect."

"From being celebrated as the face of Indian entrepreneurship and an inspiration to the Indian youth to build their own businesses, I am now wasting myself fighting a long, lonely battle against my own investors and management. Unfortunately, in this battle, the management has lost of what is actually at stake – BharatPe," Grover added in his letter.

Grover's resignation came a few days after he lost an arbitration that he had filed against the company's investigation against him, with an emergency arbitrator held that there was no ground to stop governance review at the firm.

Grover, who in January, went on a two-month leave of absence following allegations of using abusive language against Kotak Mahindra Bank staff and fraudulent practices, had filed an arbitration plea with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) claiming the company's investigation against him was illegal.

The emergency arbitrator (EA) hade, however, rejected all the five grounds of his appeal and denied a single relief, sources with direct knowledge of the development told news agency PTI.

Last month, the company's board sacked his wife Madhuri Jain Grover over alleged financial irregularities and cancelled ESOPs vested with her.

She was alleged for using company funds for personal beauty treatments, buying electronic items and family trips.