Ashneer Grover is a popular Indian businessman who is the CEO and founder of India’s one of the popular online money transaction platforms, BharatPe.
Wiki/Biography
Ashneer Grover was born on Monday, 14 June 1982 (41 years; as of 2023) in Delhi, India. He grew up in Delhi. Ashneer completed his schooling in Delhi, then he did B.Tech in civil engineering at IIT Delhi. During his graduation days, Ashneer was one of the 6 students who was selected by IIT Delhi as an exchange student for the university of INSA Lyon Institut National Des Science Appliquees de Lyon, France. He moved to France in the year 2002, and he also received a scholarship of Rs. 5 lakh from the French Embassy. In 2004, Ashneer got himself enrolled in an MBA in Finance program at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahemdabad. In 2006, campus placement by IIM Ahemdabad landed Ashneer to Kotak Investment Banking, Mumbai as vice president. In 2013, he joined as the director in Amex, (American Express), an MNC, and he served there for two years. He joined Grofers as the chief financial officer in 2015, and he worked there for a few years. After all this experience, he wanted to do something different, he met various investors and started making networks, and then he joined PC Jewellers as business head, and he helped them in their business development and payment options. When he was working in PC Jewellers, he got the idea of BharatPe. Ashneer, along with Shashvat Nakrani and Bhavik Koladiya, launched BharatPe in 2018 it is today the most used payment application.
Ashneer Grover founder of BharatPe
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 7″
Hair Colour: Salt & Pepper
Eye Colour: Black
Family
Parents
Ashneer’s father, Ashok Grover, was a chartered accountant, who passed away on 28 March 2023. . His mother, Neeru Grover, is a teacher.
Parents of Ashneer Grover
Wife & Children
Ashneer Grover’s wife’s name is Madhuri Grover. She is also an entrepreneur. In BharatPe, she manages HR, finance, and other internal operations. Before joining BharatPe, she was an interior designer and worked with people like Satya Paul and Alok Industries. She also had her own furnishing business named Mauve and Brown. She also worked with south Indian actress Asin and her husband, Rahul Sharma. Madhuri Grover has also done the interior of her house in South Delhi.
Ashneer Grover’s house in South Delhi
When Ashneer started BharatPe, he could not afford many employees, he needed someone who could manage the internal operations of the organization, so Madhuri joined BhartPe. Ashneer and Madhuri have two children, son Avy Grover, who is 11 years old, and a daughter, Mannat Grover.
Ashneer Grover with wife and children
Career
As an Investment Banker
After completing his MBA in finance, Ashneer Grover got placement as vice president in Kotak Investment Banking in 2006. He worked there for almost seven years. He was part of various IPO deals. He left the job in 2013.
As an MNC Employee
In 2013, Ashneer Grover joined as a director in Amix (American Express), which is a multinational company. He enjoyed working in an MNC, but he always wanted to do something different. He worked there for almost 2 years.
As a Chief Financial Officer
He joined n internet company ‘blinkit’ in Gurgaon, Haryana as a chief financial officer, in April 2015. After leaving Amex in 2015, Ashneer Grover joined Grofer’ as a Chief financial officer in march 2017, and in August, he left the organization.
As the Head of PC Jewellers
After leaving Grofers Ashneer took a break from work, and he met various investors and tried making more networks. Then, he joined PC Jewellers as business head. He helped them in new business development, new payment options, and strategies.
As a Founder of BharatPe
In 2018, Ashneer came up with the idea of BharatPe, which went on to become one of the most used payment applications in India. Ashneer Grover along with Shashvat Nakrani and Bhavik Koladiya founded BharatPe in 2018.
Ashneer Grover (standing left) with Suhail Sameer and Shashvat Nakrani
The headquarter of BharatPe is in New Delhi, India. According to Ashneer, he started BharatPe with 6 employees. The brand ambassador of BharatPe is Salman Khan.
Salman Khan Brand Ambassador of BharatPe
BharatPe is India’s first UPI interoperable QR code, with the first ZERO MDR payment acceptance service and the first UPI payment backed merchant cash advance service. BharatPe aims in providing an end-to-end financial services platform for merchants.
As a Judge in Shark Tank India
In 2021, Ashneer Grover appeared as a judge in the popular Indian reality show Shark Tank India. In this show, people come up with their startup business and ask the judges to invest in their business. Ashneer joined the show as one of the investors.
Controversies
Pamphlet Distribution Against Paytm
In 2020, Paytm and other such companies filed a lawsuit against Mr. Grover and his company BharatPe for distributing pamphlets, claiming that Paytm and other companies were not purely India-based companies. They also requested the Reserve Bank of India to take action against BharatPe.
Suffix Battle with PhonePe
In 2021, PhonePe, after filing a lawsuit against BharatPe claiming trademark rights over the suffix, sought speedy disposal of the main lawsuit.
Viral Abusive Audio Clip
In January 2022, an audio clip went viral in which Mr. Grover had a huge fight with the Kotak Mahindra Bank. The bank alleged that Mr. Grover and his wife had threatened one of their employees. Later, Mr. Grover took to Twitter and termed the audio clip fake. He said,
“Folks. Chill. It’s a fake audio by some scamster trying to extort funds (USD 240,000 bitcoins). I refused to buckle. I’ve got more character. And, internet has got enough scamsters.”
Reportedly, Mr. Grover had asked the bank to give him Rs. 500 crores ahead of Nykaa’s IPO launch, which the bank refused to give him. A few days after the viral audio clip, Mr. Grover went on leave till March-end 2022 following which the company released a statement that read,
“For now, the board has accepted Ashneer’s decision which we agree is in the best interests of the ‘company, our employees and investors, and the millions of merchants we support each day.”
Resignation from BharatPe
On 1 March 2022, he quit BharatPe as managing director. Reportedly, he took this move soon after receiving an upcoming board meeting agenda in which the consideration of action against him was supposed to be included based on the report submitted by advisory firm PwC.
FIR in a fraud case
On 10 May 2023, a case was registered against Ashneer Grover, his wife, Madhuri Jain Grover, and family members Deepak Gupta, Suresh Jain, and Shwetank Jain by the Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) after a complaint by BharatPe for an alleged Rs. 81 crore fraud in December 2022. They were booked under eight sections of serious cognisable criminal offences, including 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant, banker, merchant, or agent), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc.), and 120B (criminal conspiracy).
Awards
- In 2021, Ashneer Grover won the Entrepreneur of the year award.
Ashneer Grover receiving Award for Entrepreneur of the Year 2021
- Ashneer was honoured with the young achiever’s award in January 2021.
Favourites
Car Collections
Ashneer owns a Mercedes-Maybach S650. The car’s number plate reads ‘ASHNEER G.’
Ashneer Grover with his Mercedes-Maybach S650
He also owns a Mercedes Benz GLS 350, Audi A6, and Porsche Cayman.
Ashneer Grover with his Porsche Cayman
Net Worth
Ashneer Grover, the founder of BharatPe, has an estimated net worth of $600 million to $900 million, as of 2021.
Facts/Trivia
- According to Ashneer, during the starting days of the BharatPe, he along with his wife, Madurai and children, fixed BharatPe stickers at the merchant outlets.
- Ashneer Grover within a month established a network of 11 lakh merchants and facilitates over 15 million monthly UPI transactions.
- He loves to visit different places with his family.
- He has penned an autobiography titled ‘Doglapan.’ He informed his followers about this autobiography on Twitter in November 2022.
Is kitab padhne ke baad ya to aap ek dum apni naukri chhod doge ya fir zindagi bhar naukri hi karoge. At least beech mein nahi phase rahoge.
To get absolute clarity in life – read my incredible life story ! Order your copy of ‘Doglapan’ now on Amazon.https://t.co/snrfbhGRE5 pic.twitter.com/rNhTld8mWr
— Ashneer Grover (@Ashneer_Grover) November 10, 2022
- According to Ashneer, he declined to participate in Bigg Boss 16 when the makers of the show approached him to participate in the show.
- In December 2022, the makers of the Indian web series Pitchers announced that Ashneer will join them in their season 2.
- In an interview, he talked about how he got his name, Ashneer, and said that it was a combination of his parents’ names, Ashok (father) and Neeru (mother).
- In May 2023, he appeared in a promo video released by the makers of the reality TV show ‘Roadies 19.’
Categories: Biography
Source: SCHOOL TRANG DAI
