CoinSwitch Kuber’s Sharan Nair, other top execs depart after securing funding for new venture

Top executives of the Indian crypto exchange unicorn CoinSwitch Kuber have left the company.

These high-profile exits include Sharan Nair, who is CoinSwitch's Chief Business Officer (CBO), Sarmad Nazki, the company's chief financial officer (CFO), and senior executive Krishna Hegde. These individuals have left the crypto exchange to start their own venture.

CoinSwitch Kuber confirmed the news to Business Today.

The company also told Business Today that Flipkart and Myntra veteran Ramesh Bafna would be replacing Nazki as the CFO. The statement said, “Ramesh Bafna, a seasoned professional who has built sustainable marketplace revenue models at Myntra, Flipkart, and Wipro, has joined CoinSwitch as the Chief Financial Officer and has been working in tandem with Sarmad to effect a smooth and seamless transition.”

Ashish Singhal, the Chief Executive Officer of the exchange, also confirmed the news in a tweet. In the tweet, Singhal was seen congratulating the executives. He wrote: "Success is a teamwork. @CoinSwitchKuber scaled new heights thanks to the efforts of @NairSharan, @snazki & @PositiveGamma. I'm happy to reveal they are now starting up in Web3. We dream the same dream — #MadeinIndia Web3. We'll continue to work towards that goal as #TeamIndia."

Sharan Nair, stressing on his passion for crypto, told Business Today, “We are super passionate about crypto and we believe it is here to stay. We will continue to take guidance from CoinSwitch team, which has been my home turf for the last 4+ years as we build India into the Web3 hub of the world.”

A source from a Web3 venture capital firm informed BT that Nair and others who quit had been planning to depart from the crypto exchange for sometime now in order to start their own Web3 venture. They have now secured funding for the same.

“They had been planing to leave CoinSwitch for sometime now. They were waiting to secure funding for their new venture, which would also be in the crypto and Web3 space but not related to cryptocurrencies as an investment tool because of the government’s tough stance on them,” the source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said.

The source also added that they would most probably move to Dubai as well.