Peak Partner XVthe leading venture capital company in India and Southeast Asia, has seen a fresh round of senior departures. It follows other leadership over the past year as it continues to move forward with plans to expand its focus on AI investments and expand its footprint in the US, while maintaining India as its largest market.
The latest departure stems from an internal disagreement with senior partner Ashish Agrawal (pictured above, left) that led to a mutual decision to part ways, Managing Director Shailendra Singh told TechCrunch. He added that two other partners, Ishaan Mittal (pictured above, right) and Tejeshwi Sharma (pictured above, centre), chose to go with him.
Singh said that Peak XV did not want to discuss their disagreements and was focused on moving forward. “Just from privacy, and out of, like, trying to be a style about,” he said. Singh added that such departures are not uncommon in multi-stage venture companies and that Peak XV wants to move on quickly after years of working together.
All board seats held by the departing partners will be transferred “immediately,” Singh said, noting that the firm already has overlapping representation in some of its portfolio companies. He said that Peak XV is not concerned about continuity, as there are many general partners and operating partners who are already involved in many of these places.
The departure marks the exit of longtime investors from the company. Agrawal has been with Peak XV for more than 13 years, while Ishaan Mittal spent more than nine years with the company and Tejeshwi Sharma more than seven years, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Agrawal write in his LinkedIn post he has decided to “take up entrepreneurship” and team up with Mittal and Sharma to start a new venture capital firm. He described the move as an opportunity to build a new institution with longtime partners and thanked Peak XV leaders for what he called an “amazing partnership.”
During his time at Peak XV, Agrawal led investments in fintech, consumer, and software, including Groww, one of the most prominent IPO companies in 2025. He also supported several early stage and growth companies along with Mittal and Sharma, which contributed to the development of the broader Peak XV portfolio over the past decade.
Agrawal, Mittal, and Sharma did not respond to messages for comment.
Peak XV has also moved to strengthen senior leadership from within. The firm on Tuesday promoted Abhishek Mohan to general partner, expanding its investment leadership bench, while Saipriya Sarangan was appointed chief operating officer, looking after the firm’s operations.
The leadership change comes in the midst of an outstanding year for the portfolio exiting Peak XV. Five companies – grow up, Pine Labs, Meesho, Wakefitand Capillary Technology – going public in November and December 2025, generating about ₹300 billion (about $3.33 billion) in unrealized, mark-to-market gains for the company, in addition to about ₹28 billion (about $310.61 million) in proceeds from share sales during the IPO.
In addition to the latest departure, Peak XV has seen a wider churn in its senior ranks over the past 12 months. Last year, longtime investment leaders Harshjit Sethi and Shailesh Lakhani exited the India team, while Abheek Anand and Pieter Kemps departed from the company’s Southeast Asian operations. The company has also seen leadership changes in its marketing, policy, and operations teams in recent months.
Singh dismissed the market-wide view that many of the partners who drove Peak XV’s biggest exits are no longer with the company, calling the narrative “statistically untrue.” He said that some of the most significant results have been led by long-tenured partners who remain at the XV Summit, and support that the track record of the firm does not hinge on any individual.
Puncak XV currently has seven general partners, along with multiple partners and principals, according to Singh.
VC company, which split from Sequoia Capital in 2023 and now manages more than $10 billion in capital across 16 funds, has made about 80 AI-related investments, Singh said, highlighting a push to expand its focus on AI funding. It is also preparing to open a US office in the next 90 days as it expands its global footprint, per Singh, while continuing to see India as its biggest and most important market.
Singh said the company believes AI will reinvent venture investment more deeply than previous technology changes, arguing that successful AI investments require investors with deep technical understanding rather than “general” experience. He added that Peak XV is looking to add AI native talent, including researchers and engineers with backgrounds in machine learning and large-scale model development.
The firm has invested in more than 400 companies, and its portfolio has seen more than 35 initial public offerings and several M&As to date.