BharatPe Cofounder Steps Down
BharatPe’s cofounder and COO, Shashvat Nakrani, has stepped down from its executive role to “explore” new ventures. As the fintech unicorn rebuilds after years of leadership churn, legal feuds and business reorientation, what does his departure mean for BharatPe?
Founder Steps Back: Nakrani will now shift to a strategic advisor role at BharatPe from May, while continuing as a board director. In his new position, he will oversee fundraising, M&A, IPO planning and long-term strategy. The company will continue to be led by existing management.
Post-Turbulence Era: Nakrani’s departure comes at a time when BharatPe is trying to show its investors that its governance architecture has stabilised. The 2022 board-led internal probe and the removal of fellow cofounder Ashneer Grover triggered a wider leadership reset, with multiple senior exits across technology, lending, payments and finance.
Cofounder Bhavik Koladiya also eventually left, while Nalin Negi, who came in as interim CEO, took over in 2024. Since then, BharatPe has tried to rebuild around a more structured and less founder-centric leadership model.
Business Rebounds: Meanwhile, BharatPe’s business has been improving. FY25 losses narrowed sharply by 82% YoY to ₹88.2 Cr, while operating revenue climbed nearly 17% YoY to ₹1,667 Cr. The shift away from pure payments toward lending-led growth has become the centrepiece of this recovery. While merchant loans and subscription products bring most of the revenue, the company’s wealth tech play is also cushioning its growth.
With an IPO target still in play over the next 10-12 months, BharatPe is trying to prove that its governance and business reset are finally moving in the same direction. Amid this backdrop, here is all about Nakrani stepping down from BharatPe…
From The Editor’s Desk
Justdial’s Q4 Show
- The digital classifieds platform’s net profit tanked 37% YoY to ₹100 Cr in Q4 FY26, despite operating revenue rising 6% YoY to ₹307.2 Cr. Including other income of ₹48.6 Cr, Justdial’s total income stood at ₹355.9 Cr.
- Meanwhile, total expenses increased 6% YoY and 3% QoQ to ₹231.2 Cr. Alongside its financials, the company also announced the departure of its CFO, Abhishek Bansal, after a nearly twelve-year-long stint.
- Founded in 1993, Justdial operates an online, hyperlocal search engine that provides both B2C and B2B listings of small businesses across India. In 2021, Reliance Retail acquired a 65% stake in the company.
New CFO At Cashfree
- The fintech startup has roped in former Visa executive Sameer Gandhi as its new chief financial officer. The outgoing CFO, Vikas Guru, will support Gandhi through a transition period.
- A qualified chartered accountant, Gandhi has been helming the finance department at Visa since 2017. Prior to this, he also held various roles at companies like Vodafone, Citigroup and CRISIL in a career that spans 25 years.
- Founded in 2015, Cashfree offers payment gateways and banking API solutions to clients like Zomato, CRED and Delhivery. It has raised $90 Mn to date. On the financial front, its net loss rose 14% YoY to ₹154.1 Cr in FY25 while the top line remained flat at ₹640 Cr.
Ola Electric Stock Dips Again
- Shares of the EV maker ended yesterday’s trading session nearly 7% lower at ₹38.22 on the BSE. This followed Ola Electric announcing that Bombay HC (at Goa) quashed a bailable arrest warrant issued against its founder, Bhavish Aggarwal.
- In February, a consumer court issued a bailable arrest warrant against Aggarwal after he failed to show up for a scheduled hearing for a case. The matter involved an escooter that was submitted at one of its service centres but then disappeared.
- This follows Ola Electric rallying more than 65% in the past month on the back of a slew of positive developments, including unveiling in-house LFP cells, improving sales, PLI certification for its ebike Roadster X+ 4.5 kWh, among others.
ShareChat Chases Microdramas
- With ₹1,000 Cr+ in revenues and improving cash flows, ShareChat is now betting on shifting away from imitation-led social media towards new formats like microdramas to carve out a niche in the AI-driven content era.
- To grow, ShareChat is betting on microdrama through its platform QuickTV. But instead of relying only on subscriptions, it is combining short-form content with its existing apps (Moj and ShareChat) to increase user engagement and ad revenue.
- Simultaneously, the company is also cutting costs through engineering changes and negotiating with cloud providers, which has helped bring its cost down to about $0.60 per user. This helped ShareChat become cash flow positive in 2025 and reduce losses.
Scope Extended For Fund Of Funds 2.0
- DPIIT has officially notified the second phase of the Startup India Fund of Funds (FoF) scheme, with a total corpus of ₹10,000 Cr. This comes a couple of months after the Union Cabinet approved the same.
- FoF 2.0 will come into force from April 13 and disbursals to alternative investment funds will be spread over the 16th and 17th finance commission cycles. The second iteration will also back deeptech-focused AIFs, micro VCs and manufacturing-centric funds.
- Under the scheme so far, supported AIFs have invested ₹25,548 Cr in 1,371 startups across 29 states and UTs.
Inc42 Markets
Inc42 Startup Spotlight
How Confluxe Is Helping Global Giants Scale In India
Global fashion and lifestyle brands see India as a major growth market, but entering the country can still be messy, fragmented and operationally complex. Confluxe is trying to solve that gap by giving international brands a single platform to enter, launch and scale across India.
Built For India: Founded in 2026, Confluxe is designed to help brands understand India before they commit funds. Its playbook begins with market-entry strategy, studying demand, pricing, consumer behaviour and regulatory requirements to shape a sharper local launch.
The startup then takes brands live across digital channels to test demand quickly, gather early customer signals and refine the brand’s positioning before broader expansion.
From Data To Distribution: Confluxe’s next layer is omnichannel execution. Using analytics, it helps optimise pricing, assortment and inventory as brands move into an integrated omnichannel model. That gives global labels a way to scale with more control and less guesswork.
The Supply Chain Edge: The platform also helps brands build local sourcing, manufacturing and logistics support. With the Indian apparel segment projected to become a $150 Bn opportunity by 2030, can Confluxe become the go-to launchpad for global fashion brands betting on India?
Infographic Of The Day
Q1 2026 funding data shows that deal activity continues to remain concentrated in key hubs, with Bengaluru and Delhi NCR leading the pack. Here is how the numbers stack up…
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