Exclusive: Brine.fi Founders, Elevation Capital In Dock Over NCLT Petition On IP Theft, Crypto Syphoning
Summary
The cofounder and ousted chief business officer (CBO) of cryptocurrency trading platform LetsKrypto, Vaibhav Shukla, has moved the NCLT against the cofounders of cryptocurrency trading platform Brine.fi and investor Elevation Capital, accusing them of stealing and syphoning off key assets, including cryptocurrencies, user data and intellectual property, of parent Inventphile Ventures Pvt Ltd.In a petition to the tribunal (NCLT), Shukla has accused them of illegally transferring Inventphile Ventures assets to BRS Tech Service, the British Virgin Islands-based parent of Brine.fi. Shukla added that the US-based asset management company, Pantera Capital, also signed a term sheet to invest $10 Mn in Inventphile Ventures in April 2022. However, Pantera, along with other existent investors of Inventphile, invested in Brine.fi, as per the NCLT petition.Amid all these, Shukla has received an interim order in his favour from the Delhi High Court, dated December 12, 2023, which observes that Brine.fi CEO and cofounder Shaaran and two cofounders, Praveen and Bhatnagar, infringed upon the copyrights of Inventphile Ventures to use the name Brine and its logo for their new venture.Inc42 has seen the Delhi High Court interim order.Meanwhile, Brine.fi has now been renamed to tanX.fi, according to its website. Later Elevation Capital invested nearly $1 Mn in a seed round in the company for a 22% stake (June 2021).While Shaaran was the CEO of LetsKrypto, Shukla was its CBO. Shaaran also hired Bhatnagar and Praveen to help him develop the UI/ UX of LetsKrypto app, as per the NCLT petition.However, after Elevation Capital invested money into the company, Shukla alleged, in his petition, that a conspiracy was hatched to oust him on the ground that he was misusing the companys funds and failing to perform his professional duties.Shukla added that he was also trying to onboard a few other investors and they had floated a Singapore subsidiary of Inventphile Ventures.The petition also states that Shaaran, along with Elevation Capital, also tried reaching out for a settlement with Shukla for a mere INR 2 Lakh, which was turned down by the latter.Shukla also demanded information on cryptocurrencies and the companys financials from Shaaran, however, the same was denied to him, per the petition.The NCLT petition added that there have been illegal transfers of company assets, cryptocurrencies, and employees to at least four new subsidiaries floated by Shaaran and his two cofounders, which violates the Articles of the Association at Inventphile Ventures.Meanwhile, the Shaaran-led venture has reportedly crossed a $100 Mn valuation with recent Series A fundraise.