Ashish Grover: From Delhi Boy to Shark Tank India

नमस्कार! I'm Ashish Grover, shark on Shark Tank India and MD of BharatPe. My journey began in Delhi, where I was born, educated, and now work. I come from a middleclass family; my mother was a school teacher, and my father was a chartered accountant. Everyone in my family had jobs – they were service professionals. No one was involved in business.

Early Life and Education

I went to Apeejay School in Delhi. After 12th grade, I realized I couldn't work with my father in his office. I decided to do something different and pursued engineering at IIT Delhi, graduating in 2004. Following that, I received a scholarship from the French Embassy and went to France for a program. I funded my own expenses.

After completing my IT degree, I joined IIM Ahmedabad and earned my MBA in 2006.

Investment Banking and American Express

My first job was at Kotak Investment Banking, where I spent seven years, completing deals worth $3 billion. After that, I joined American Express India, investing in payment companies like Paytm, MobiKwik, and Pine Labs. I interacted with over 100 payment company founders, understanding how the payment ecosystem works in India.

A Stint at Grofers (now Blinkit)

In 2015, I joined Grofers as the CFO. From 2015 to 2017, I dedicated myself to the company, scaling it to 30,000 orders per day. While I enjoyed the work and was passionate about the company, I had to leave in 2017. This was a crucial learning experience.

The Gap and PC Jeweller

Following Grofers, I spent about six months contemplating my next move. I then joined PC Jeweller, focusing on developing a gold loan business. It was a unique role, providing insights into the jewellery industry and the mindset of shopkeepers in areas like Karol Bagh.

The Birth of BharatPe

In June 2018, I met my cofounders, Shashwat and Bhavik, IIT Delhi graduates. They had developed a technology to enable merchants to accept payments from various companies using a single QR code. Recognizing the potential, I combined my experience in payments and understanding of the Indian merchant with their technology, and BharatPe was born. **Since then, we've never looked back.**

Our growth has been driven by allowing merchants to accept payments for free using a single QR code. We became the largest QR code company in India, surpassing established players like Paytm and PhonePe, especially among small merchants. We facilitate over 5 million transactions daily, exceeding ₹1 lakh crore in annual payments.

Expanding Beyond Payments

Using QR code data, we started providing loans to merchants. We've disbursed over ₹3000 crore in loans to small businesses. The last three years have flown by as we focused on building trust with merchants by ensuring timely and accurate payments. This has enabled BharatPe to grow into a strong brand. Our mission is to support small merchants by providing capital to compete with online giants like Amazon and Flipkart, who do not give them the means to thrive.

Dispelling Myths About Fintech

There are misconceptions about fintech. It's not just about building technology, acquiring customers, and marketing. **Fintech is a challenging field that requires persistence and conviction.** You need to be clear about what you want to achieve. Being a founder isn't just a title; it's about truly building a business for the right reasons. The market won't pay for inefficiencies or extravagance.

The Indian Entrepreneurial Wave

India is witnessing an entrepreneurial wave, with companies that started a decade ago going public. Shark Tank India helps educate viewers about entrepreneurship, offering insights into what it takes to build a business and secure funding. It showcases realworld evaluations and provides valuable information about the entrepreneurial journey, along with entertainment.

**Every success story has thousands of failure stories behind it.** It's important to know what to do, but even more important to know what not to do. Shark Tank India helps demonstrate what qualities an entreprenuer should have and what a realistic expectation of being an entreprenuer is.

Find the Full Audio on Spotify

You can find the full story of Ashish Grover on Josh Talks Spotlight on Spotify. Don't forget to like and share this video.