Fintech firm BharatPe elevates Nalin Negi as CEO

Fintech firm BharatPe this week elevated Nalin Negi as its chief executive officer (CEO) ahead of the company’s initial public offering (IPO) planned for later this year.

Negi, who became the chief financial officer (CFO) at BharatPe in 2022,  had taken over as interim CEO in January last year following the exit of Suhail Sameer.

Before joining the fintech firm, which focuses on empowering small businesses in their digital journey, in August 2022, Negi served as CFO at SBI Cards for a decade, leading the company to become the only listed pure credit card firm on the Indian stock exchanges.

Negi had joined BharatPe during a turbulent phase, marked by public spats between former founder Ashneer Grover and other executives at the fintech firm.

With Negi leading financial decision-making, the company saw substantial growth, with a 182% jump in revenue for FY23 and an Ebitda-positive month in October 2023. Ebitda, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, is a measure of profitability.

Negi has over 28 years of experience in the fintech and banking sector and brings a wealth of expertise to the table in building and scaling businesses. He has held senior leadership positions at financial service organizations such as SBI Cards and GE Capital, the company said.

Rajnish Kumar, chairman of the board at BharatPe, expressed confidence in Negi’s ability to lead the company forward.

“His extensive experience in the fintech industry and the growth witnessed for BharatPe under his leadership, makes him a natural choice to lead the company,” Kumar said.

Negi said, “BharatPe was started with the vision of empowering millions of offline merchants and MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) across the country, with best-in-class fintech products. I am excited and honored to take on this new role at BharatPe.”

While restructuring its leadership structure, BharatPe had recently promoted Sandeep Indurkar to CEO of the payment vertical.