Image Source: Twitter
As per the Economic Times, BharatPe co-founder Bhavik Koladiya has taken his former partner Ashneer Grover and the fintech startup to court to regain his shares in the company. Koladiya, however, didn’t give any specifics and instead told ET, “I cannot comment on this case since it is sub-judice presently. You are welcome to meet with my solicitors.” Koladiya and Shashvat Nakrani founded Gurugram-based BharatPe in 2018. Ashneer Grover was later hired as a co-founder and Managing Director.
Koladiya quit the company in August 2022. BharatPe issued a statement announcing his departure, “Bhavik Koladiya has been associated with BharatPe as an Independent Consultant, guiding our Product and Technology teams. His contract tenure ended on July 31, 2022 and he expressed his desire to spend time on other assignments outside BharatPe.”
the situation, his position in the company would have hindered fundraising conversations with large institutional investors. Koladiya was jailed in the United States for operating a food shop and receiving digital payments without a licence. As a result, Koladiya was forced to resign and sell his shares.
People traditionally commit such shareholding to current stakeholders through a call-option agreement, which is a contract between two or more parties in which the buyer gains the right to exercise his option to acquire a certain asset from the seller for a specified length of time.
Grover has repeatedly said that Koladiya sold his shares to him and other buyers, including Nakrani and early investors, in many meetings. Koladiya, on the other hand, told ET Prime in a statement that he had triggered an agreement he had signed with Nakrani and Grover in 2018 to obtain his ‘pledged shares’ in BharatPe.
He further said that, while Nakrani had following through on the agreement that would have made him a stakeholder of BharatPe, Grover wouldn’t have.