In a high-profile leadership realignment within the Indian startup ecosystem, identity and access management (IAM) startup OTPless has appointed former BharatPe engineering head Geetanshu Singla as its new Chief Technology Officer (CTO). The appointment marks a significant homecoming for Singla, who will be reuniting with his former BharatPe colleagues—now the core leadership team at OTPless—as the company seeks to scale its authentication infrastructure globally.

This transition comes at a pivotal moment for the Bengaluru-based startup, which is currently navigating a comprehensive top-level restructuring aimed at streamlining operations, driving profitability, and capturing a larger share of the burgeoning Indian IAM market.

The Strategic Appointment: A "Homecoming" for Engineering Talent

The announcement of Singla’s appointment effectively fills a vacancy that had remained open for nearly ten months following the departure of former CTO Anubhav Mathur in January 2024. For Singla, the move is less of a new corporate endeavor and more of a reunion with a founding team he knows intimately.

"I have worked very closely with Satyam Nathani and Tanmay Sagar during my BharatPe days," Singla shared in a LinkedIn post following the announcement. "We have built together, solved some really hard problems together, and spent countless hours discussing tech, scale, and products. So, joining OTPless doesn’t really feel like joining a new company. In many ways, it feels like coming back home."

Singla’s professional history is deeply intertwined with the "BharatPe Mafia"—a growing cohort of former executives from the fintech unicorn who have gone on to build or lead independent ventures. Having served as the head of engineering at BharatPe until 2023, Singla brings a wealth of experience in managing high-scale, high-transaction environments, a prerequisite for the technical demands of OTPless.

Chronology: From Fintech Unicorns to Entrepreneurial Ventures

To understand the significance of this appointment, one must look at the career trajectory of the key stakeholders involved.

The BharatPe Connection

The core leadership of OTPless—Bhavik Koladiya, Satyam Nathani, and Tanmay Sagar—were all instrumental in the early days of BharatPe. Their collective experience in building a robust payments infrastructure provided the blueprint for the creation of OTPless in 2021. Singla, as a former engineering lead, was part of that foundational development phase, making him a "cultural fit" for the startup’s current mission.

The GenWise Chapter

After his tenure at BharatPe, Singla ventured into the startup ecosystem as a co-founder of GenWise, a lifestyle application designed to make senior citizens "digital-ready." Alongside fellow BharatPe alumni Nehul Malhotra and Rajat Jain, Singla helped scale the company to a $3.5 million seed round led by Z47 (formerly Matrix Partners India). Despite the backing of prominent investors like Kunal Shah, the startup ceased operations in December 2025 due to the challenges of achieving product-market fit in the niche elderly-tech segment.

Post-GenWise and Syfe

Following the closure of GenWise, Singla pivoted to the wealthtech sector, joining the Singapore-based platform Syfe. There, he served as an engineering leader for approximately one year, further refining his expertise in distributed systems and platform architecture before deciding to rejoin his former colleagues at OTPless.

Organizational Rejig: A New Era for OTPless

Singla’s arrival is the latest move in a wider strategic reorganization at OTPless. The company is actively shifting its management structure to better position itself for its next phase of growth.

• CEO Transition: In October 2024, co-founder Bhavik Koladiya stepped down from his role as CEO. Satyam Nathani, another co-founder, was elevated to the position of CEO to steer the company’s vision.
• Operational Strengthening: Tanmay Sagar, who was instrumental in the early tech architecture of the firm, has been appointed as the Chief Operating Officer (COO), focusing on the company’s day-to-day execution.
• Business Growth: The company also elevated Manas Poddar to the role of Chief Business Officer (CBO) just last week, signaling an aggressive focus on market penetration and client acquisition.

Understanding the Business: The Shift Beyond OTPs

Founded in 2021, OTPless has carved a niche by addressing the "authentication friction" that plagues consumer internet platforms. As digital security threats increase, traditional authentication methods like one-time passwords (OTPs), PINs, and static passwords are becoming increasingly vulnerable to phishing and interception.

Core Offerings

OTPless provides a suite of SDKs and APIs that facilitate seamless authentication. Their primary product lines include:

• Silent Network Authentication: Leveraging carrier data to verify users without requiring manual input.
• WhatsApp Authentication: Utilizing the massive reach of Meta’s messaging platform for secure, frictionless logins.
• Device Intelligence & Passkeys: Implementing modern, hardware-backed security standards to replace legacy password systems.

By streamlining the sign-up process, the startup helps enterprises—including major players like Meesho, Navi, PhysicsWallah, ShareChat, Shiprocket, and Zepto—reduce drop-off rates and improve conversion metrics.

Financial Performance and Market Position

The company’s growth metrics provide a clear picture of why they are considered a high-potential player in the Indian B2B SaaS landscape.

• Scale: OTPless claims to have authenticated more than 300 million mobile users since its inception.
• Revenue and Profitability: The startup currently reports an annualized revenue run rate (ARR) of approximately ₹36 crore and has notably achieved profitability for the last two consecutive quarters.
• Funding: To date, the company has raised over $6 million in capital from institutional investors such as Venture Highway, White Venture, FJ Labs, SIDBI, and Piper Serica.

Implications: The $1.7 Billion Opportunity

The appointment of a seasoned engineering leader like Singla suggests that OTPless is preparing for a period of rapid technical scaling. As the global shift toward "passwordless" authentication gains momentum, the Indian Identity and Access Management (IAM) market is poised for significant expansion.

According to industry reports, the Indian IAM market is projected to evolve into a $1.7 billion opportunity by 2030. This growth is driven by the increasing digitization of financial services, the rise of the "super-app" ecosystem, and stringent regulatory requirements regarding data privacy and user identification.

Competitive Advantages

By leveraging the combined experience of a team that has already built a fintech unicorn, OTPless has a unique advantage. They understand the "hard problems" of scale, compliance, and user trust better than most competitors. Singla’s role will be to ensure that the infrastructure remains resilient as the volume of authentication requests grows exponentially.

Future Outlook

With a new CEO, a new CTO, and a revamped leadership team, OTPless is clearly signaling a move away from its "startup" phase toward a more mature "growth" phase. The challenge ahead will be to maintain the profitability they have achieved while expanding into international markets where authentication standards and regulatory landscapes vary significantly.

As Singla takes the helm of the engineering division, the market will be watching closely to see how the team integrates new technologies—such as biometric integration and AI-driven fraud detection—into their existing authentication stack. For now, the reunion of the BharatPe alumni at the helm of OTPless stands as a testament to the power of professional networks in building the next generation of Indian enterprise technology.