Tag: Ashneer Grover

News

BharatPe appoints ‘Sumeet Singh’ as General Counsel & Head- Corporate Strategy

Jan 6, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #‘General Counsel and Head- Corporate Strategy, #Ashneer Grover, #BharatPe’, #Co-founder and CEO, #Sumeet Singh

Mumbai: BharatPe, India’s leading financial services company for merchants, today announced the appointment of ‘Sumeet Singh’ as the ‘General Counsel and Head- Corporate Strategy’. The appointment will further bolster the leadership team at BharatPe, which currently is a mix of renowned professionals across industries.

Sumeet Singh is a seasoned legal professional with 10+ years of experience across leading law firms including AZB & Partners, DSK Legal and Amarchand Mangaldas. Sumeet brings deep understanding of legal, compliance, regulatory and structuring aspects of multiple sectors including non-banking financial, retail, e-commerce, FMCG, digital media and technology.

Sumeet who is expected to join BharatPe soon is currently a Partner at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas, New Delhi, having joined the erstwhile Amarchand Mangaldas Suresh A. Shroff in 2013 from AZB. Sumeet has actively represented some of India’s biggest e-commerce, retail entities, financial companies and start-ups. Recently, he was part of the core team advising Reliance Retail Ventures Limited, in its acquisition of the entire retail & wholesale and logistics & warehousing business of Kishore Biyani’s Future Group. He has also been advising Norwest Venture Partners (a US$ 9 billion investment fund) in all their recent investments in India including in Xpressbess, OFB Tech, Ess Kay Fin Corp, Veritas Finance etc. He has been an advisor to Grofers since its early days leading their fund raising work. Additionally, Sumeet represented Indiamart on its pre-IPO fund raising. Sumeet’s other marquee representations include clients like Nestle, IFC, Inshorts, IDFC Alternatives Limited (now Global Infrastructure Partners), Qatar based Q Invest, Raine Group and NewsCorp.

Commenting on the appointment of Sumeet, Ashneer Grover, Co-Founder and CEO, BharatPe said, “2020 has been an exciting and solid growth year for BharatPe. As we get ready to welcome 2021, I would like to welcome Sumeet to the team. Sumeet will be the first partner at a major law firm to join a startup. I’ve known Sumeet professionally and personally for 5 years and there is no one better to steer BharatPe on its goal to be India’s first true digital bank. He will be responsible for corporate strategy, compliance, licensing, equity and debt deals, ESOP schemes, cap table management and preparation for eventual listing.”

Sumeet added “I am excited to join Ashneer and his solid team of CXOs as they build out a truly differentiated and capital efficient Fintech at BharatPe. The way BharatPe has broken away from the Fintech crowd to create a solid business, bodes well for the future and I am honoured to contribute to this amazing growth.”

Business World

BharatPe appoints Ex-Union Bank Chairman ‘Kewal Handa’ as Independent Director

Nov 5, 2020 by Gouri Achary 0 Comments #Ashneer Grover, #BharatPe’, #Mr. Ashneer Grover, #Mr. Kewal Handa, #SME

BharatPe, India’s largest merchant payment company, today announced the appointment of Kewal Handa as an Independent Director. Formerly associated with Union Bank of India and Pfizer, Mr Handa will be joining the Founders – Ashneer and Shashvat, Jitendra Gupta (ex PayU) and Micky Malka (Ribbit) on the Board of BharatPe. He will be mentoring and advising BharatPe on its overall business strategy as it expands across markets and product categories.

With demonstrated leadership and excellence in guiding companies to scale up its positions, Mr Handa has diverse experience in Finance, Commercial, Strategy and Business Development, Corporate Affairs etc. He was the Managing Director of Pfizer Limited, India from 2005 to 2012. Kewal has also been Independent Director at ING Vyasa Bank.

Accorded with various national and international awards, his induction to the Board is in line with BharatPe’s effort to strengthen its leadership team to aggressively capture market opportunities. The company has been launching new product and services aimed at enabling merchants to grow their business. It has recently announced its plan of disbursing loans of Rs. 1,000 crores to small merchants across the country in this financial year.

Said Mr. Ashneer Grover, Co-Founder & CEO, BharatPe, “We are pleased to welcome Mr. Handa on our board. His guidance and banking experience will accelerate our financial services business to the next level. In the current scenario, we are aggressively strengthening our lending and payment offerings, and his insights will be of great value in shaping the right strategies for the brand as we scale up. We are confident that Kewal’s diverse experience in building global businesses will help us create a credible and profitable business.”

On his appointment, Mr. Kewal Handa said,” I am delighted to be part of BharatPe which has already carved its niche in offering digital payment and lending solutions to merchants. BharatPe is already the 4th largest UPI player in India and largest lender in the SME segment. The new normal has augmented the demand for contactless payments in the country and I believe it is the best time to capitalize on it.”

BharatPe has been bolstering its leadership team with hires from the industry. In the recent past, the company has made key hiring at its CXO level including Suhail Sameer as the Group President.