Fintech unicorn BharatPe has appointed former deputy governor of Reserve Bank of India, BP Kanungo and Zomato's chairman Kaushik Dutta as independent directors on its board.
The moves comes a month after BharatPe chairman Rajnish Kumar had told VCCircle in an interaction that the fintech company will transition to a professionally-run entity from an individual-focused one, with a new board aiming for profitability in 6-10 months.
Kanungo served as the deputy governor of RBI from 2017-2021. In his new role at BharatPe, he will be working with the board and support the company in its plan of building a high-quality profitable business. On the other hand, Dutta, who has an experience across corporate governance, including in his leadership roles at PwC, will guide the company in preparing for its initial public offering (IPO) in the next 2-3 years, the statement added.
Founded in 2018, BharatPe allows shop owners to make digital payments through QR codes. It is backed by a host of marquee investors such as Tiger Global, Dragoneer Investment Group, Beenext, Steadfast Capital, Ribbit Capital, and Steadview Capital, among others.
At present, it is serving one crore merchants across 400 cities. It claims to have already facilitated disbursement of loans totalling to over Rs 7,500 crore to over 4 lakh merchants. Till date, BharatPe has raised over $650 million in equity.
“We hope that the composition of board, processes and compliances in place will lead to best governance practices in the industry. These leaders, with a knowledge of the banking industry and corporate governance practices, will provide invaluable guidance to the board and management,” Kumar has said in a statement.
Suhail Sameer, chief executive officer, BharatPe, said, “BharatPe has one of the most admired boards in the country, comprising respectable names from the banking and financial services industry. Their experience and understanding of the industry and the regulatory landscape, will be an asset for us as we continue to build products that disrupt the market.”
BharatPe joined the coveted unicorn club last year after raising $370 million in its Series E round led by Tiger Global Management. Dragoneer Investor Group, Steadfast Capital, Sequoia Capital, Insight Partners, Coatue Management, Amplo and Ribbit Capital also participated in the round.
A unicorn is a privately held startup with a value of over $1 billion.
