NestAway co-founder accuses Tiger Global, Chiratae, Goldman Sachs of fraud

In an unusual move for a startup founder, Amarendra Sahu, the co-founder and former CEO of the home rental platform NestAway, has initiated a criminal case against lead investors Tiger Global, Goldman Sachs, and Chiratae Ventures, as well as his fellow co-founders Jitendra Jagadev and Smruti Parida.

 

Sahu has filed a First Information Report (FIR) with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Bhubaneswar Police in Odisha, his home state. The complaint accuses Tiger Global, Goldman Sachs, Chiratae Ventures, and the company’s other co-founders of fraud, cheating, document forgery, and criminal intimidation.

 

The Orissa High Court has been hearing petitions related to the case since December 10, 2024. It is scheduled to review the case again on January 9.

   

Sahu’s complaint alleges that his signature as a company director was illegally used to finalise NestAway’s Rs 90-crore sale to proptech firm Aurum on June 28, 2023. He emphasised that he had resigned from his directorial role on June 19, 2023—over a week prior to the deal's completion. A copy of the FIR was reviewed by Business Standard.

 

After its acquisition, NestAway's valuation was reduced by 95 per cent. The Bengaluru-based company, established in 2015, had raised a total of $116 million in funding over the years. NestAway's most recent funding round took place in 2019, when it raised capital at a valuation of $220 million (Rs 1,810 crore) from prominent investors such as Tiger Global, UC-RNT Fund, Flipkart, Goldman Sachs, and Yuri Milner.

 

An email query to Chiratae remained unanswered at the time of press.

 

In the FIR, Sahu said that due to the pandemic from 2020–2022, the company suffered heavy losses as its operations were disrupted. Also, due to the pandemic and his aged parents, Sahu worked remotely from his home office in Odisha. When the company was under severe financial distress, investors, namely Goldman Sachs and Tiger Global, left the board to avoid sustaining any personal monetary losses or reputational damage. The other three partners, Jitendra Jagadev, Smruti Parida, and Deepak Dhar, also left the company.

 

“But I continued with the company without any financial gain, and due to my sincere endeavour and dedication, the company survived and was brought back to a viable condition,” said Sahu in the FIR.

 

Sahu alleged that the investors, in collusion with Jitendra Jagadev, one of the directors, secured a direct offer to sell their shares at a very low valuation to Aurum without involving Sahu and over 250 shareholders. Fearing the deal might fall through, Sahu claimed that the investors persuaded him to sell his shares and assist in selling others’ shares as well.

 

Sahu’s complaint alleges that the lead investors, including Tiger Global, Goldman Sachs, and Chiratae Ventures, persuaded him via emails, WhatsApp messages, and phone calls, assuring him of an additional Rs 11.72 crore on top of the value of his 5 per cent stake. However, they allegedly denied this promise following the transaction's completion.

 

“Fearing rejection by me and other shareholders, which could stall their plan to sell their shares, Chiratae Ventures, representing all investors, induced me through several virtual and physical meetings to sell the company to a third party they had arranged. They promised to pay me an extra Rs 11.72 crore out of their share of the sale proceeds in recognition of my past work and efforts required for the sale,” said Sahu in the FIR.

 

“Believing their words and their stature, I innocently agreed and completed all the work of selling the company via emails, phone calls, and WhatsApp chats while still working from Bhubaneswar. I handed over all signed documents, including the sale agreement, as a shareholder. However, once in possession of the signed documents and consent forms, the investors—namely Tiger Global, Goldman Sachs, Chiratae Ventures, and Schroders Adveq—denied their promise of Rs 11.72 crore to me and coercively closed the sale transaction in favour of Aurum at a consideration of Rs 90 crore on June 28, 2023,” he added.

 

The report states that Sahu is owed Rs 4.8 crore from Tiger Global, Rs 2.18 crore from Chiratae Ventures and its affiliates, Rs 2.04 crore from Goldman Sachs, Rs 1.81 crore from UC-RNT Fund, and Rs 0.89 crore from Schroders Adveq.

 

“Not just cheating, I had entrusted my signature page as a director to the investors on June 6, 2023, to expedite the sale closure. However, as my resignation from directorship was accepted on June 19, 2023, the entrusted signature page lost its validity. The investors allegedly affixed my signature from other company documents onto the sale transaction forms without my knowledge, thereby forging documents to complete the transaction on June 28, 2023,” said Sahu. “The investors not only denied the promised amount but, in conspiracy with Jitendra Jagadev, who had access to all company records, harassed me by blocking my bank account operating rights and financial powers. Deep Varma of Tiger Global coerced and threatened me, insisting that I had 24 hours to agree to sell my shares and resign from the CEO and MD positions or risk losing my shareholding money entirely.”

 

According to industry sources, Amarendra Sahu has been the sole founder since September 2021, as all his co-founders had left by then. In August 2022, NestAway had an investment offer of Rs 50 crore from Gruhas—Kamath Brothers' investment arm. The company was on the path to recovery. However, sources claim that the investors chose to sell their shares instead of accepting new investment into the company.

 

After quitting NestAway, Jitendra Jagadev joined Aurum. Sources said he continued as a director of NestAway, with access to critical company details, while negotiating the sale terms on behalf of Aurum. Investors of NestAway were allegedly aware of this conflict of interest.

 

According to an Entrackr report, NestAway co-founder Jitendra Jagadev, who is also facing similar allegations, stated that Sahu had raised the same accusations at the NCLT in Bengaluru, but they were dismissed. "It appears he is using the legal process to harass and apply undue pressure on these repeated investors," he added.