Ashneer Grover, former chief executive and co-founder of BharatPe, is in talks with US-based family offices and offshore private equity players to raise $200-300 million to launch a new business, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said. said on condition of anonymity.
“Initially he may use some of his personal property. Eventually, it can either sell a part of its stake in BharatPe or raise fresh capital by issuing a stake in the new company. He has met with at least six investors regarding his new venture. Discussions are still preliminary,” said one of the people cited above.
Grover owns an 8.5 per cent stake in BharatPe, which is valued at around $3 billion. “There are buyers for their BharatPe stake. Transaction price is something that has to be negotiated,” said this person.
Grover is currently in America. While it is not known in which areas Grover will test his entrepreneurial skills next Tuesday, Grover, celebrating his 40th birthday, announced on Twitter that he would be re-entering the business world with plans to create another “unicorn”. ready to enter.
Grover indicated that the new startup would “disrupt another sector. After his controversial exit from BharatPe over allegations of financial irregularities, Grover has mostly stayed out of India and kept a low profile.” Today, I turn 40. Am. Some would say that I have lived a full life and experienced most things,” said Grover’s tweet. Created value for generations. For me, it is still an unfinished business.
Grover was sent on leave of absence in January this year after an audio clip surfaced online in which he was heard getting aggressive with an employee of Kotak Mahindra Bank. Later, Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain were accused of financial irregularities, which led to their removal from the company in March. Mint had earlier reported that 3.5-4% of the 8.5% owned by Grover is attributable to the stake held by BharatPe co-founder Bhavik Koladia. If this is added to the 1.4% set to be taken back by BharatPe, Grover could eventually own 3.5-4% of the company. As the face of BharatPe, Grover helped turn fintechs into unicorns in August last year. A startup is called a unicorn when its valuation exceeds $1 billion.