Peak XV Partners just lost three senior investors in what Managing Director Shailendra Singh describes as an internal disagreement that couldn't be resolved. The departures - led by 13-year veteran Ashish Agrawal alongside partners Ishaan Mittal and Tejeshwi Sharma - come as the India-focused VC firm doubles down on AI investing and prepares to open a U.S. office within 90 days. It's a rare moment of public tension at one of Asia's most successful venture firms, managing over $10 billion across 16 funds.
Peak XV Partners is dealing with the kind of internal shakeup most venture firms try to keep quiet. The departure of senior partner Ashish Agrawal and two other investors stems from what Managing Director Shailendra Singh calls a disagreement that led to a mutual parting of ways - though he's staying diplomatically vague on details.
"Just out of privacy, and out of, like, trying to be classy about it," Singh told TechCrunch when pressed on specifics. But the numbers tell their own story. Agrawal spent more than 13 years at Peak XV, while Ishaan Mittal clocked over nine years and Tejeshwi Sharma more than seven, according to their LinkedIn profiles. That's a lot of institutional knowledge walking out the door.
The timing is particularly notable. Agrawal wrote on LinkedIn that he's taking the "entrepreneurial plunge" with Mittal and Sharma to launch a new VC firm. During his Peak XV tenure, he led the investment in Groww, which became one of the firm's standout exits when it went public in 2025. He also backed companies across fintech, consumer, and software that contributed to Peak XV's portfolio growth over the past decade.
Singh insists the firm isn't worried about continuity. Board seats held by the departing partners will be transitioned "imminently," he says, pointing out that Peak XV already has overlapping representation across portfolio companies. Multiple general partners and operating partners are involved across those boards, which should smooth the transition. The firm currently has seven general partners plus multiple partners and principals, according to Singh.
