Gauging The Need For A Corporate Governance Framework For Indian Startups Via The Prism Of Bharatpe

Mahima Agrawal & Pankti Mishra, Symbiosis Law School, Pune

ABSTRACT

Poor governance kills potential startups. The recent tussle between BharatPe and its founder Ashneer Grover has brought to the forefront the plight of Indian startups wound up in controversies. Also similar to BharatPe, Akriti Bose, the founder of Zilingo, also highlighted this issue of disconnect between founder and investors. In this article we attempt to address the inadequacies in the corporate governance framework in Indian startups. To do this, we look over BharatPe's legal problems, their effect on the financial startup market, and also governance-related problems with other startups. Though possible attempts have been made in comparative jurisdictions to depict the importance of venture capitalist governance to handle the decision- and strategy-driven conflict between VCs and Founders to addresses the current catastrophe of governance complexity. However, the viability of such measures in an Indian context requires careful consideration

Keywords: BharatPe, Corporate Governance, Ashneer Grover, Venture Capitalist, Founders, Start-ups