BharatPe Sees Final Founder Exit from Operations as Shashvat Nakrani Steps Aside

Co-founder Shashvat Nakrani of BharatPe has resigned from his position as COO. Thus, the fintech company's original founders have stepped down from their managerial roles. This new development highlights the complete change in leadership at the unicorn company situated in Delhi.

Over the last several years, in response to governance resets and plans for expansion, the company has been progressively reorganising its management structure. Co-founder Bhavik Koladiya also departed the company in 2022, and Nakrani's retirement from operations follows in his footsteps. A settlement was also reached in 2024, which resolved the company's long-standing dispute with erstwhile co-founder Ashneer Grover. No founding member is now serving in an operational capacity at BharatPe, as Nakrani has resigned as COO. Additionally, it marks a clear transition to managerial leadership at the professional level.

BharatPe Gearing up for its IPO                 

Meanwhile, BharatPe is gearing up for what could be a medium-term public offering, so the timing couldn't be better for the change. Placing itself for a more structured corporate structure, the company has previously expressed IPO intentions in the FY27-FY28 window. As part of its ongoing reorganisation, the firm has recently appointed new executives and made changes to the head of its point-of-sale (POS) division. These developments reflect a renewed emphasis on merchant services and core payments.

In March 2026, BharatPe strengthened its drive into offline merchant payments infrastructure by appointing Himanshu Verma as head of its POS division. When it comes to merchant payments in India, BharatPe is still one of the big players. The company's UPI QR, lending, point-of-sale, and financial services aid over 10 million traditional and kirana store owners. During the fiscal year ending in March 2025, the company earned INR 6 crore on INR 1,800 crore in revenue. Therefore, it is important to note that BharatPe is now focusing on increasing its financial discipline in tandem with its expansion.

Nakrani to Remain as Advisor at BharatPe

According to a LinkedIn post by Nakrani, he will be moving into the position of strategic advisor starting in May, while also maintaining his position as a director on the board of BharatPe. Fundraising, initial public offering preparations, mergers and acquisitions, and long-term planning are some of the areas that Nakrani will be involved with in his non-executive capacity. In 2018, Nakrani and Bhavik Koladiya co-founded BharatPe.

This same year, Ashneer Grover, who had previously served as chief financial officer at Grofers, became the third cofounder of the firm. By 2022, the startup had lost Koladiya and Grover. According to Nakrani, he is still the biggest individual stakeholder in BharatPe. He plans to be involved with the startup's future endeavours. He mentioned that the startup's current board and management team will remain in charge, and he praised them for being qualified to steer the company into the future.