How BharatPe founder Ashneer Grover is tapping Gen Z audiences

Mumbai: BharatPe cofounder and chief executive Ashneer Grover is building on his Shark Tank India fame to promote a parallel personality away from the business world, through memes, interviews with creators and an active presence on social media channels, including professional networking site LinkedIn and photo and video sharing platform Instagram.

ET reported on February 4 how memes based on the Indian version of the American business reality television show had taken over social media, catapulting judges to celebrityhood.

Grover has found an audience who like his unfiltered and unabashed personality on Shark Tank India.

Unlike other sharks though, Grover’s fandom has coincided with
multiple controversies surrounding his conduct, dealings and alleged financial irregularities at BharatPe. An independent probe by firms Alvarez & Marsal and PwC is currently under way to investigate the goings-on at the fintech unicorn.

Also Read |Timeline: Ashneer Grover’s fortnight to forget

From resharing and amping up meme pages that highlight his abrasive personality in a good light to even the choice of clothes – hoodie and bomber jackets in interviews – the mercurial and in-your-face entrepreneur is tapping into a younger fanbase, experts said.

“No one can build a brand following faster than Gen Z,” said Gayatri Sapru, an anthropologist and researcher on the behaviour of Gen Z, or people born between 1997-2012.

“In the past, founders did not make an effort to become public faces, but with the competition today, and with unicorns coming up so frequently, this is yet another way to hype up businesses they are building as well as distinguish themselves from their ventures in case of exits and buyouts…,” she said.

The younger generation – born and growing in the age of content, unemployment and idleness – enjoy watching characters like Grover, according to multiple experts.

In a recent interview with social media creator and investor Raj Shamani, which went viral within days of going live on February 11, Grover spoke about his journey as an entrepreneur.

The YouTube version of the interview has received over 1.3 million views, with more than 60% from those between the ages of 18 and 24, Shamani told ET.

“I’m not a media platform trying to bring truth and perspectives from two sides…,” Shamani said. “For me, it was from a fascination and curiosity point of view, that how he has built what he has built. Why is he the right investor? And how is he so blunt?” he said.

The 25-year-old added that the investigation results are still not out for him to pass judgments on Grover, and therefore, he did not bring up the issue during the interview.

Troubling culture

“What we can safely claim is that what appeals to young India is flavour and masala; they are on a constant lookout for that sort of content. Grover’s character play on Shark Tank has worked for the show, and he is known for that, so it’s only smart for him to be portraying himself that way on all other platforms…,” said Shivang Shah, co-founder of digital marketing company Django Digital.

Sapru said the 40-year-old’s fanbase highlights a troubling trend in society that revels in male toxic behaviour.

“First of all, there’s some amount of exaggeration about how loved Ashneer is; a lot of which has to do with the ongoing public relations (marketing) to make him likable considering recent disasters… but beyond that, I think he does have a fairly large fan base which is due to his aggressive personality,” Sapru said.

“In India, we are still used to and enjoy seeing men of a certain age behave in what can only be described as toxic. It reflects our own conditioning, many of us have grown up with a teacher or parent or elder, or bully around us who was celebrated for being “brash”, and we may form a para-social relationship with characters like Grover who feel familiar and comfortable because of their strongman stand,” she said.

Narayan Devanathan, chief client officer, Dentsu International said that Grover’s personality could be categorized as unacceptable public behaviour and abrasive “in other people, in other times”.

“But, in an age where wealth and fame are seen as objects worth pursuing, and not as outcomes of pursuing a specific goal such as progress or the greater good or creating a worthy legacy, this has become a valid currency,” he said. “
Main aisa hi hoon (I am like that only), take it or leave it.”

According to a recent news report, despite high rates of unemployment and joblessness, many youths, especially across India’s most populous state Uttar Pradesh, are neither angry nor idle.

“Instead, with their daily quota of 2GB of data, glazed eyes and worn fingertips, they scroll and troll social media endlessly exactly for such content, such characters, Devanathan said
.

In his interview with Shamani, Grover explains his perceived rudeness as his way of being authentic and honest. He said people over time tend to overlook the tone and come to understand his straightforwardness as “
dhande ki baat (business talk)”.


Shamani says younger people appreciate the BharatePe founder’s authenticity and “anti-culture personality”.

Behind the social media strategy

The man playing a big role in Grover’s flourishing social media presence is 28-year-old Siddharth Gupta, who is officially a senior associate at BharatPe, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Gupta joined BharatPe less than a year ago in its lending team after a two-year stint at investment bank Barclays.

Multiple sources in the know told ET that Gupta, who is also Grover’s nephew, is his social media manager.

Until recently, Grover was only re-sharing content on his Instagram stories that was first shared by Gupta on the Meta-owned platform.

Gupta acts as an automatic filter for Grover, according to the people, and even manages the Ashneer Grover fan club on Instagram that has over 7,000 followers. He has been present at recent interviews involving Grover, they said.

Gupta’s father, Deepak Jagdishram Gupta, has also been named in the preliminary probe undertaken by Alvarez & Marsal, dated January 24, as responsible for vendor procurements.

The issue around financial irregularities and dealings with non-existent vendors, brought forth by Alvarez & Marsal’s preliminary probe, was also highlighted during an investigation undertaken by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), in October last year.

Grover did not respond to ET’s query on his relationship with Gupta and his strategy to appeal to a younger audience on social media.