BharatPe's co-founder Bhavik Koladiya quits

Bhavik Koladiya, one of the founders of fintech unicorn BharatPe, who was working with the company as a consultant overseeing the technology and product functions, has stepped down from the post, according to a company statement released on Tuesday.

This comes just months after the dramatic exit of Ashneer Grover from the company, which witnessed nasty boardroom drama and several fights between company's management and Grover and his associates over allegations of financial irregularities in the company.

“Bhavik Koladiya has been associated with BharatPe as an Independent Consultant, guiding our Product and Technology teams. His contract tenure ended on July 31, 2022 and he expressed his desire to spend time on other assignments outside BharatPe,” the company said in a statement.

“Bhavik has been one of our biggest advocates and has been an integral part of our journey in becoming one of India’s largest fintech companies. While we wish him the very best, we are also sure that he will continue to guide us in the future as well, as and when we need,” it added.

In context with Grover's exit, the company also noted that it has initiated appropriate action against former Founder and MD. "We would not like to comment on the legal process concerning such action, it further stated.

Mint was first to report the development earlier in the day.

This is not the first exit after Grover's disassociation with the company. As per earlier reports, BharatPe's founding member Satyam Nathani, chief revenue officer Nishit Sharma and head of institutional debt partnerships Chandrima Dhar have also resigned earlier.

Meanwhile, the payment unicorn's last month registered over two-fold growth in loan disbursals facilitated by it to over Rs 3,600 crore in the April-June period. The company had facilitated loan disbursal of around Rs 1,700 crore through its NBFC partners in the January-March 2022 quarter. Bharatpe said that it facilitated loan disbursal for over 1.2 lakh merchants during the quarter compared to 66,000 merchants that benefitted from the service in January-March quarter.