Co-founder of NestAway Charges Goldman Sachs, Tiger Global, and Chiratae With Fraud

Nitin Konde, Varun Bhardwaj

Jan 4, 2025 — 3 min read

NestAway Co-founder Accuses Key Investors of Fraud

Amarendra Sahu, the co-founder and former CEO of the home renting platform NestAway, has taken an uncommon step for a startup founder by filing a criminal lawsuit against his fellow co-founders Jitendra Jagadev and Smruti Parida, as well as lead investors Tiger Global, Goldman Sachs, and Chiratae Ventures. In his native state of Odisha, Sahu has submitted a First Information Report (FIR) to the Bhubaneswar Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW). Tiger Global, Goldman Sachs, Chiratae Ventures, and the other co-founders of the company are accused of fraud, deception, document forgery, and criminal intimidation in the complaint.

Since December 10, 2024, the Orissa High Court has been considering petitions pertaining to the issue. The case will be reviewed once more on January 9. According to Sahu's allegation, NestAway's June 28, 2023, INR 90-crore sale to proptech startup Aurum was fraudulently completed using his signature as a company director. He made it clear that he had left his position as director on June 19, 2023, more than a week before the agreement was finalised.

NestAway’s Valuation Decline After the Acquisition

NestAway's valuation dropped by 95% following its acquisition by Aurum. Since its founding in 2015, the Bengaluru-based business has raised a total of $116 million in investment. NestAway raised $220 million (INR 1,810 crore) in its most recent investment round in 2019 from well-known investors like Yuri Milner, Flipkart, Goldman Sachs, Tiger Global, and UC-RNT Fund.

Sahu claimed in the FIR that the company experienced significant losses as a result of the disruptions to its operations caused by the pandemic in 2020–2022. Additionally, Sahu worked remotely from his home office in Odisha because of the epidemic and his elderly parents. Investors Goldman Sachs and Tiger Global resigned from the board when the company was in serious financial trouble in order to protect their own money and reputation. Jitendra Jagadev, Smruti Parida, and Deepak Dhar, the other three partners, also departed the business.

However, Sahu persisted in running the business without receiving any compensation, and the FIR claimed that because of his genuine efforts and commitment, the business survived and was restored to a sustainable state.

How the Acquisition Deal was Cracked Without Informing Sahu?

Sahu claimed that without consulting him or the more than 250 shareholders, the investors obtained a direct offer to sell their shares to Aurum at a very cheap price through cooperation with one of the directors, Jitendra Jagadev. Sahu stated that the investors convinced him to sell his shares and help sell others' shares because they were worried that the deal might not go through.

According to Sahu's complaint, the principal investors—Tiger Global, Goldman Sachs, and Chiratae Ventures—convinced him to pay an extra INR 11.72 crore over the value of his 5% investment through phone calls, WhatsApp messages, and emails. However, when the deal was completed, they allegedly denied this commitment.

Chiratae Ventures, acting on behalf of all investors, persuaded Sahu to sell the business to a third party they had arranged through a number of in-person and virtual meetings out of concern that Sahu and other shareholders' rejection would delay their plan to sell their shares. In the FIR, Sahu stated, "They promised to give me an additional INR 11.72 crore from their portion of the sale proceeds in appreciation of my prior work and the efforts necessary for the sale."

Sahu unwittingly consented, believing their words and their reputation, and carried out all of the work of pitching the business through WhatsApp chats, phone calls, and emails while continuing to work from Bhubaneswar. As a stockholder, he sent over all signed papers, including the sale agreement. On June 28, 2023, Sahu stated in the FIR that the investors, Tiger Global, Goldman Sachs, Chiratae Ventures, and Schroders Adveq, forcibly closed the sale transaction in favour of Aurum at a consideration of INR 90 crore after denying Sahu their promise of INR 11.72 crore after obtaining the signed documents and consent forms.

According to the investigation, Sahu owes Tiger Global INR 4.8 crore, Chiratae Ventures and its affiliates INR 2.18 crore, Goldman Sachs INR 2.04 crore, UC-RNT Fund INR 1.81 crore, and Schroders Adveq INR 0.89 crore.