BharatPe, the fintech startup shielding against multiple controversies including allegations of financial fraud, has hired veteran executives to key roles in corporate governance, compliance, and data security.
The company, amidst a CEO search, has appointed risk and compliance expert Rahul Bhatia as Head of Internal Audit, and banking industry veteran Ravinder Oberoi as Head of Compliance. Ambuj Bhalla, with nearly two decades in information security, data privacy, and protection, joins as Chief Information Security Officer.
“As we focus on getting IPO ready, we must focus to ensure that data privacy, cyber security, corporate governance, and compliance are given the highest priority,” BharatPe Co-founder Shashvat Nakrani said in a statement.
Rahul has led risk advisory at PricewaterhouseCoopers and at Grant Thornton Bharat LLP, and was most recently overseeing risk and compliance at small businesses-focused financial platform Tide.
Ravinder has about 23 years in financial services, banking, and insurance companies, with expertise in RBI regulatory compliances, including in digital lending. He will help establish BharatPe’s compliance function and strengthen relationships with regulatory bodies, the company said in the statement.
Ambuj was most recently head of cyber security at InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, which operates IndiGo airlines.
BharatPe is amid a senior leadership transition. Earlier in January, CEO Suhail Sameer stepped down, with CFO Nalin Negi named as an interim replacement while the company scouts for a new leader.
BharatPe has received in-principal approval from the Reserve Bank of India to operate as an online payment aggregator. The approval was awarded to Resilient Payments Pvt. Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary.
BharatPe serves about 10 million merchants across more than 400 cities, processing about 180 million UPI transactions every month and over $24 billion in annualised transaction processed value.
To date, BharatPe has raised over $650 million in equity. Investors include Tiger Global, Dragoneer Investment Group, Steadfast Capital, Coatue Management, Ribbit Capital, Insight Partners, Steadview Capital, Beenext, Amplo, and Sequoia Capital.
[Updated with additional details throughout.]
