The massive success of investment platform Groww has become one of the biggest startup success stories in India. But while the IPO created huge profits for Peak XV Partners, it has also led to internal tensions, senior resignations, and major changes inside the company.
Peak XV, earlier known as Sequoia Capital India, reportedly turned an early investment of around ₹230 crore into a holding worth nearly ₹22,000 crore after Groww’s IPO in 2025. The huge returns have now become the centre of a dispute over profit sharing among partners.
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Groww IPO Gives Peak XV Massive Returns
Peak XV invested in Groww in 2019 when the company was still growing in the Indian wealthtech market. The firm bought shares at an average price of just ₹1.91 per share and later built a 19.87% stake in the company before the IPO. After Groww’s public listing in 2025, the value of Peak XV’s stake jumped sharply. Reports suggest the investment grew to a value between ₹17,300 crore and ₹22,000 crore, giving the firm nearly 95 times returns on its original investment.
Peak XV also sold part of its stake during the IPO process. Through the Offer-For-Sale route, the firm reportedly earned around ₹1,583 crore. Later, after the six-month lock-in period ended, it sold another 6.2 crore shares in a large block deal worth more than ₹1,100 crore. Even after selling some shares, Peak XV still reportedly owns Groww shares worth around ₹19,000 crore. Groww was not the only success for the venture capital firm. Other portfolio companies such as Pine Labs, Meesho, Wakefit and Capillary Technologies also went public in late 2025, helping Peak XV generate huge unrealised gains.
Profit Sharing Dispute Leads to Senior Resignations
The Groww IPO success reportedly created disagreements inside Peak XV over “carried interest”, which is the share of profits given to investment partners. Ashish Agrawal, the partner who led the Groww investment and worked closely with the company, reportedly asked for a larger share of the profits during discussions linked to Peak XV’s upcoming fundraising plans.
However, senior leaders including Managing Partner Shailendra Singh reportedly refused to change the earlier payout structure. The leadership believed Groww’s success was the result of team effort across the organisation and not just one person’s contribution. The disagreement reportedly escalated within a few days and led to the resignation of Ashish Agrawal after 13 years at the firm. Ishaan Mittal and Tejeshwi Sharma also left around the same time. These resignations are part of a larger leadership exit trend at Peak XV since the company separated from Sequoia Capital in 2023. Reports suggest more than 35 senior leaders and investment professionals have left the firm since then.
Several former executives are now launching their own venture capital firms, increasing competition in India’s startup investment space. The exits have also created concerns among startup founders backed by Peak XV. Many founders are worried about losing senior partners who guided their companies and represented the firm on company boards. To address these concerns, Shailendra Singh has reportedly assured founders that board transitions will happen smoothly and support for startups will continue.
Peak XV Focuses on AI and Global Expansion
Along with internal restructuring, Peak XV is also changing its investment strategy and business model. The firm reportedly reduced the size of its 2022 India and Southeast Asia fund because of fewer strong growth-stage investment opportunities in the market. It also lowered its management fee from 2.5% to 2%, which is considered the industry standard. Peak XV has additionally reduced profit-sharing on growth investments from 30% to 20%. However, the company introduced a “catch-up” clause that can increase the carry back to 30% if the fund performs strongly.
At the same time, the firm is now focusing heavily on artificial intelligence. Peak XV reportedly has more than 80 AI-related startups in its portfolio and is actively hiring AI-focused talent and machine learning experts. The company is also preparing to open a new office in the United States to expand its AI investments globally. Former Y Combinator executive Arnav Sahu has been appointed to lead the US expansion plans. Peak XV is also expected to raise a new fund of around $1 billion soon. However, investors are closely watching the firm as questions around leadership stability and long-term strategy continue to grow.