Peak XV says internal disagreement led to partner exits as it doubles down on AI

Peak XV Partners, a starring task superior steadfast successful India and Southeast Asia, has seen a caller circular of elder departures. These travel different enactment exits implicit the past twelvemonth arsenic it pushes up with plans to deepen its absorption connected AI investing and grow its footprint successful the U.S., portion keeping India arsenic its largest market.

The latest departures stem from an interior disagreement with elder spouse Ashish Agrawal (pictured above, left) that led to a communal determination to portion ways, Managing Director Shailendra Singh told TechCrunch. He added that 2 different partners, Ishaan Mittal (pictured above, right) and Tejeshwi Sharma (pictured above, center), chose to permission alongside him.

Singh said Peak XV did not privation to spell into the specifics of the disagreement and was focused connected moving forward. “Just retired of privacy, and retired of, like, trying to beryllium classy astir it,” helium said. Singh added that specified departures were not uncommon astatine large, multi-stage task firms and that Peak XV wanted to determination connected rapidly aft respective years of moving together.

All committee seats held by the departing partners would beryllium transitioned “imminently,” Singh said, noting that the steadfast already had overlapping practice crossed respective portfolio companies. He said Peak XV was not acrophobic astir continuity, noting that aggregate wide partners and operating partners were already progressive crossed galore of those boards.

The departures people the exit of long-tenured investors from the firm. Agrawal had been with Peak XV for much than 13 years, portion Ishaan Mittal spent implicit 9 years astatine the steadfast and Tejeshwi Sharma much than 7 years, per their LinkedIn profiles.

Agrawal wrote successful a LinkedIn station that helium had decided to “take the entrepreneurial plunge” and was teaming up with Mittal and Sharma to commencement a caller task superior firm. He described the determination arsenic an accidental to physique a caller instauration with longtime partners and thanked Peak XV’s enactment for what helium called a “truly fantastic partnership.”

During his clip astatine Peak XV, Agrawal led investments crossed fintech, consumer, and software, including Groww, 1 of the firm’s astir salient IPO exits successful 2025. He besides backed aggregate early- and growth-stage companies alongside Mittal and Sharma, contributing to Peak XV’s broader portfolio build-out implicit the past decade.

Agrawal, Mittal, and Sharma did not respond to messages for comments.

Peak XV has besides moved to fortify its elder enactment from within. The steadfast connected Tuesday promoted Abhishek Mohan to wide partner, expanding its concern enactment bench, portion Saipriya Sarangan was elevated to main operating officer, taking complaint of firm-wide operations.

The enactment changes travel amid a standout twelvemonth for Peak XV’s portfolio exits. Five of its companies — Groww, Pine Labs, Meesho, Wakefit, and Capillary Technologies — went nationalist successful November and December 2025, generating astir ₹300 cardinal (around $3.33 billion) successful unrealized, mark-to-market gains for the firm, successful summation to astir ₹28 cardinal (about $310.61 million) successful realized gains from stock income during the IPOs.

In summation to the latest departures, Peak XV has seen a broader churn successful its elder ranks implicit the past 12 months. Last year, long-time concern leaders Harshjit Sethi and Shailesh Lakhani exited the India team, portion Abheek Anand and Pieter Kemps departed from the firm’s Southeast Asia operations. The steadfast has besides seen enactment changes crossed its marketing, policy, and operations teams successful caller months.

Singh dismissed a presumption circulating successful the marketplace that galore of the partners who drove Peak XV’s largest exits were nary longer astatine the firm, calling the communicative “not statistically true.” He said respective of the firm’s astir important outcomes had been led by long-tenured partners who remained astatine Peak XV, and argued that the firm’s exit way grounds did not hinge connected immoderate azygous individual.

Peak XV presently has 7 wide partners, on with aggregate partners and principals, according to Singh.

The VC firm, which split from Sequoia Capital successful 2023 and presently manages implicit $10 cardinal successful superior crossed 16 funds, has made astir 80 investments linked to AI, Singh said, highlighting its propulsion to deepen its absorption connected AI funding. It is besides preparing to unfastened a U.S. bureau wrong the adjacent 90 days arsenic it expands its planetary footprint, per Singh, portion continuing to presumption India arsenic its largest and astir important market.

Singh stated the steadfast believed AI would reshape task investing much profoundly than erstwhile exertion shifts, arguing that palmy AI investing required investors with heavy method knowing alternatively than “generalist” experience. He added that Peak XV was looking to adhd much AI-native talent, including researchers and engineers with backgrounds successful instrumentality learning and large-scale exemplary development.

The steadfast has invested successful much than 400 companies, and its portfolio has seen implicit 35 archetypal nationalist offerings and respective M&As to date.