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.
But this isn't Peak XV's first round of senior departures. The firm saw broader leadership churn over the past 12 months. Long-time investment leaders Harshjit Sethi and Shailesh Lakhani left the India team last year, while Abheek Anand and Pieter Kemps departed from Southeast Asia operations. Leadership changes have rippled through marketing, policy, and operations teams as well.
There's been market chatter that many partners who drove Peak XV's biggest exits are no longer at the firm. Singh pushes back hard on that narrative, calling it "not statistically true." He argues that several of the firm's most significant outcomes came from long-tenured partners still at Peak XV, and the exit track record doesn't depend on any single person.
The firm is trying to show strength from within. On Tuesday, Peak XV promoted Abhishek Mohan to general partner, expanding its investment leadership bench. Saipriya Sarangan was elevated to chief operating officer, taking charge of firm-wide operations. It's a signal that Peak XV is building from its existing talent base rather than looking outside.
And the firm has plenty to show for its recent work. Five portfolio companies - Groww, Pine Labs, Meesho, Wakefit, and Capillary Technologies - went public in November and December 2025. Those IPOs generated roughly ₹300 billion (around $3.33 billion) in unrealized, mark-to-market gains for Peak XV, plus about ₹28 billion (roughly $310.61 million) in realized gains from share sales during the offerings.
The leadership changes come as Peak XV makes a dramatic strategic pivot. The firm is preparing to open a U.S. office within the next 90 days, expanding its global footprint while keeping India as its largest market. That's a significant move for a firm that split from Sequoia Capital in 2023 and has since been building its own identity across India and Southeast Asia.
But the real bet Peak XV is making is on AI. Singh says the firm has already made about 80 investments linked to AI, and he's not shy about the scale of the pivot. Peak XV believes AI will reshape venture investing more profoundly than previous technology shifts, Singh argues. That means the firm needs investors with deep technical understanding rather than "generalist" experience.
Peak XV is hunting for AI-native talent - researchers and engineers with backgrounds in machine learning and large-scale model development. It's a different hiring profile than the traditional venture partner who might have worked in banking or consulting before moving into investing. The firm is betting that understanding the technical foundations of AI will matter more than deal-making pedigree alone.
The firm manages over $10 billion in capital across 16 funds and has invested in more than 400 companies. Its portfolio has seen over 35 IPOs and several M&A exits to date. But the question hanging over Peak XV is whether its pivot to AI and U.S. expansion can offset the institutional knowledge walking out the door with Agrawal, Mittal, and Sharma.
Singh maintains that departures at large, multi-stage venture firms aren't uncommon and that Peak XV wants to move forward quickly after several years of working together. Fair enough. But three senior partners leaving together to start a competing firm isn't exactly routine either. It suggests the internal disagreement ran deeper than Singh is letting on.
The firm's aggressive AI push and U.S. expansion plans will now play out with a reshaped leadership team. Peak XV has the capital, the track record, and the recent IPO successes to make the transition work. But venture capital is a relationship business, and relationships just got a lot more complicated for one of Asia's most prominent VC firms.
Peak XV is navigating one of the most significant transitions in its history - losing three senior partners while simultaneously pivoting to AI and expanding into the U.S. The firm's recent IPO successes and $10 billion war chest give it room to make mistakes, but venture capital runs on relationships and institutional knowledge. The real test will be whether Peak XV's bet on AI-native talent and technical depth can replace the experience walking out the door with Agrawal, Mittal, and Sharma. For now, Singh is projecting confidence and promoting from within. But the market will be watching closely to see if Peak XV's strategy shift pays off or if the internal disagreement that sparked these departures signals deeper tensions about the firm's direction.
