BharatPe CEO Ashneer Grover has said that he is being targeted by scamsters on Twitter and said that the audio circulating on social media allegedly featuring Grover and a family member hurling abuses on a Kotak Group employee is fake.
“Folks. Chill ! It’s a FAKE audio by some scamster trying to extort funds (US$ 240K in bitcoins). I refused to buckle. I’ve got more character. And Internet has got enough scamsters :) (sic),” Grover tweeted. He also posted a few email exchanges between himself and a startup marketer, going by the handle of UnicornBaba, with a quote of the latter asking for a payment of $200,000 for BharatPe’s promotion and marketing related expenses.
“You can expect 800-1000 potential startup deals in 2 years easily. Also, I will help you in image building strategy that will change the narrative. And give 20-25 positive shoutouts and PR plus in the same period,” the email shared by Grover which was written to him by the marketing firm, read.
Grover has written to the marketing firm founder who is based in Singapore, as per his Twitter credentials, and asked him to take down the audio clip, saying it is tantamount to extortion. “Please see the (purported other person in your fake audio) in our office yesterday to exchange pleasantries for new year (along with hearty laugh on this fake audio) and agree on joint legal action in case of any misadventures from you here. Also please stop sending these fake audio/ memes to our investors. We don’t understand your agenda,” Grover’s mail stated.
Notably, an unverified audio clip went viral on Tuesday night with Grover allegedly abusing an employee from Kotak Group over non-allocation of shares in Nykaa. The viral audio was posted by an anonymous handle along with the tweet: "how rich founders treat poor bank employees". The handle also tagged a few journalists.
The post sparked a huge debate on the work culture/ ethics in startups of India which have seen aggressive fundings over last few years. Grover is known to be very vocal in the startup ecosystem and had openly lashed out at Vijay Shekhar Sharma for overpricing the Paytm IPO. Grover is also one of the panelists on Shark Tank India, a reality TV show which is helping founders connect and invest in young businesses.
Business Today has reached out to Kotak Group for a comment and the copy will be updated accordingly.