'On leave' from BharatPe, Ashneer Grover takes to Instagram to share updates

BharatPe cofounder and managing director Ashneer Grover, who has taken a “voluntary leave” of absence from the fintech firm until the end of March, has taken to photo-sharing app Instagram to share updates. In a recent post on Instagram, Grover posted a picture with his wife from 2014 saying "Vacay time - looking forward to be fitter, happier and younger by travelling again! This is Prague back in 2014!!"

The recent posts from Grover come on the backdrop of him stepping away temporarily from BharatPe after an expletive-laced tirade audio clip surfaced on microblogging site Twitter.


On Sunday in a separate Instagram post, Grover shared a picture of him alongside comedian Kapil Sharma. He called the comedian the 'most talented person' he has met and mentioned it was a 'dream come true' to share the stage with him.

After the company’s announcement of him going on leave, Grover said in a separate statement that he was taking some time off. “After much deliberation, I plan to take a temporary leave of absence from BharatPe till March-end. I will return on or before April 1, 2022,” he said in a statement, adding he will utilise this time to “rejuvenate” and “refresh” himself.

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“I expect to spend the time thinking more deeply about our next phase of product development and BharatPe’s path to profitability and IPO,” he said. “I will also double down on investing in myself personally.”

Grover’s purported phone conversation in October with a Kotak Mahindra Bank employee, regarding funding to buy shares of Nykaa during the beauty etailer’s initial public offering, came in for criticism from the startup ecosystem.