Inside BharatPe’s post-Ashneer Grover redemption arc

In December last year, BharatPe released its results for the year ended March 2023 (FY23). The fintech reported a nearly threefold increase in its revenue, raking in over Rs 900 crore during the fiscal year. For a company that had all but been written off just eighteen months prior, it marked a significant turnaround.

To say that little was expected of BharatPe going into FY23 would be an understatement. While the company had emerged as one of the country’s most promising fintech bets during the pandemic, with its valuation rising to $3 billion after raising some $450 million during the Covid-19 years, its tryst with the stratosphere was short-lived.

In early 2022, BharatPe’s ascent was derailed after an audio recording emerged of company co-founder and Managing Director (MD) Ashneer Grover berating an investment banker after failing to secure financing for shares in beauty startup Nykaa’s public listing. While that scandal forced Grover into a voluntary leave of absence, it paled compared to what followed. Grover and his wife Madhuri, who served as the company’s head of controls, were accused of financial impropriety and effectively pushed out of the company in a messy and public breakup.