BharatPe elevates Nalin Negi as CEO

BharatPe has officially elevated Nalin Negi as its chief executive officer, 15 months after he took charge as interim CEO and chief financial officer, in signs of emerging stability at the fintech company.

Negi, who joined BharatPe in 2022, had been holding fort since Suhail Sameer stepped down as CEO in January 2023 amid a series of top-level exits following the ouster of co-founder Ashneer Grover.

Under Negi's leadership, BharatPe recorded a 182% increase in revenue from operations in FY23 and had its first Ebitda-positive month in October, the company said in a statement. BharatPe will now look to appoint a new CFO, it added.

Negi has more than 28 years of experience in fintech and banking. Before joining BharatPe, he held senior leadership positions at financial services companies such as SBI Card (he was its CFO when it went public) and GE Capital.

“As the CEO, he will focus on leading the company into its next phase of development, driving innovation to empower merchants across the country,” BharatPe said.

Negi said in the statement that the company would be focused on scaling its lending businesses, and launching new merchant-centric products.

Negi's "extensive experience in the fintech industry and the growth witnessed for BharatPe under his leadership makes him a natural choice to lead the company,” said Rajnish Kumar, chairman of the board at BharatPe.

Founded in 2018, BharatPe has a network of more than 13 million merchants across more than 450 cities. The company has raised more than $583 million in equity so far, and counts Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India), Ribbit Capital, Beenext, and Tiger Global as investors.