Exclusive: MobiKwik Chief Operating Officer Mrinal Sinha quits

Movement of senior executives continues at digital payments firm MobiKwik. After the resignation of employees at the top level in 2018, Mrinal Sinha, Chief Operating Officer (COO) has put in his papers a couple of weeks ago, said two sources aware with his resignation.

Sinha was elevated as COO in August 2015 and has been at the helm since then. “Besides overseeing operations, he has been looking after investment relations at MobiKwik,” added above source who didn’t wish to be named.

The movement of COO has come at a time when the firm has desperately eyeing to raise fresh funds. While the reason for his movement is yet to be ascertained, Entrackr has sent queries to Sinha and MobiKwik. We will update the post as responses come in.

Sinha is currently serving notice period and would relieve by the end of March 2019, outline sources.

Following a series of resignations of senior executives last year, the Sequoia-backed firm had roped in Deepak Batra (Head of Online Business), Jalaj Khurana (lead for unorganized retail) Chandan Joshi (head of organized retail).

Two months ago, MobiKwik had managed to raise $3 million bridge round from existing investors - Sequoia Capital, Net1 UPES and GMO Venture Partner.

Spreading its horizon from core payments business and become a full stacked financial service provider in India, the company had forayed into wealth management and insurance verticals last year. It also launched instant loans services and acquired Clearfund.

Over the past couple of years, MobiKwik has been losing the plot in hyper-competitive digital payments space. Presently, Paytm leads the pack followed by PhonePe and Google Pay. While Paytm is flushed with cash, PhonePe is reportedly in talks to raise fresh funds at a staggering $10 billion valuation from KKR and General Atlantic.

MobiKwik also has been trying to raise a big round for more than 18 months.

Further, the movement of COO who used to manage investors relation and longtime lieutenant for founders at the firm is undoubtedly not a piece of good news for MobiKwik.

Update: Following our story, MobiKwik has reached out to clarify that Sinha has been Chief Strategy Officer for the last 2.5 years. However, his LinkedIn profile and multiple media reports mentioned that he has been the COO since August 2015.