Peak XV Partners Undergoes Leadership Restructuring Amid AI-Focused Strategic Pivot
Peak XV Partners, a prominent venture capital firm operating across India and Southeast Asia, has experienced a series of senior-level departures as part of an organizational realignment focused on artificial intelligence investment and U.S. market expansion.
The latest personnel changes involve the departure of three senior partners: Ashish Agrawal, Ishaan Mittal, and Tejeshwi Sharma. According to Managing Director Shailendra Singh, the exits resulted from internal strategic disagreements with Agrawal, leading to a mutual separation agreement. Singh emphasized the firm's commitment to maintaining operational continuity and declined to elaborate on specific points of contention.
Departing Partners' Tenure and Contributions:
• Ashish Agrawal: 13+ years, led investments in fintech, consumer, and enterprise software sectors, including Groww
• Ishaan Mittal: 9+ years of service
• Tejeshwi Sharma: 7+ years of service
Agrawal announced via LinkedIn that the trio would launch a new venture capital firm, describing the move as an entrepreneurial opportunity to build a new institutional platform with longtime collaborators.
Leadership Reinforcement
In response to the departures, Peak XV has promoted from within:
• Abhishek Mohan elevated to General Partner
• Saipriya Sarangan appointed Chief Operating Officer
Singh noted that board transition processes are already underway, with existing overlapping representation across portfolio companies ensuring continuity. The firm maintains seven general partners alongside multiple partners and principals.
Portfolio Performance and Exit Activity
Despite the organizational changes, Peak XV demonstrated strong portfolio performance in late 2025, with five companies completing initial public offerings in November and December:
1. Groww
2. Pine Labs
3. Meesho
4. Wakefit
5. Capillary Technologies
These IPOs generated approximately ₹300 billion (~$3.33 billion) in unrealized mark-to-market gains, plus ₹28 billion (~$310.61 million) in realized gains from secondary share sales.
Strategic Pivot Toward AI
Peak XV is executing a comprehensive strategic realignment centered on artificial intelligence investment. The firm has deployed capital across approximately 80 AI-related investments and is actively recruiting AI-native talent, including machine learning researchers and engineers with large-scale model development experience.
Singh articulated the firm's thesis that AI represents a more transformative technological shift than previous innovation cycles, requiring investors with deep technical expertise rather than generalist backgrounds.
Geographic Expansion
Peak XV plans to establish a U.S. office within the next 90 days as part of its global footprint expansion, while maintaining India as its primary market focus.
Organizational Context
The recent departures follow additional senior-level exits over the past 12 months, including investment leaders Harshjit Sethi and Shailesh Lakhani from the India team, and Abheek Anand and Pieter Kemps from Southeast Asia operations. The firm has also experienced turnover in marketing, policy, and operations functions.
Peak XV, which separated from Sequoia Capital in 2023, currently manages over $10 billion in capital across 16 funds. The firm's portfolio encompasses more than 400 companies, with over 35 IPOs and multiple M&A transactions completed to date.
