Maju Kuruvilla v. Bolt Financial, Inc.

Court of Chancery of Delaware·Decided August 12, 2026·No. 2026-0435-LM·Published

Opinion

COURT OF CHANCERY

OF THE

STATE OF DELAWARE LEONARD L. WILLIAMS JUSTICE CENTER LOREN MITCHELL 500 NORTH KING STREET, SUITE 11400 MAGISTRATE IN CHANCERY WILMINGTON, DE 19801-3734

Date Submitted: July 9, 2026 Final Report: August 12, 2026

Andrew D. Cordo, Esquire David E. Kirk, Esquire Jessica A. Hartwell, Esquire Y. Carson Zhou, Esquire Jillian Patterson, Esquire Kirk & Ingram, LLP Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati, 3411 Silverside Road, Suite 104B P.C. Wilmington, DE 19810 222 Delaware Avenue, Suite 800 Wilmington, DE 19801

RE: Maju Kuruvilla v. Bolt Financial, Inc., C.A. No. 2026-0435-LM

Dear Counsel, Maju Kuruvilla, the former CEO, director, and officer of the Company seeks advancement of attorneys’ fees and expenses under an Indemnification Agreement to defend a lawsuit brought by the Company. He also seeks to cover fees incurred for responding to the Company’s pre-suit threatened litigation correspondence. The Company asserts that the separation and Release agreement, which carve out “claims related to rights to indemnification or insurance,” do not preserve advancement, which the Company argues is a distinct right that was released. The Plaintiff argues that the carve out for indemnification-related claims encompasses advancement.

C.A. No. 2026-0435-LM August 12, 2026 Page 2 of 20

The parties also dispute whether advancement rights expired under the Agreement’s durational clause and question whether the Plaintiff was “subject to” a proceeding, a requirement to receive advancement. The parties further dispute whether the Company may resist advancement based on its contention that the Indemnification Agreement resulted from an interested transaction that was not entirely fair to the Company.

For the reasons that follow, the Court grants Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment and denies the Company’s cross-motion, concluding that the Release preserves Plaintiff’s claim for advancement; that Plaintiff’s advancement rights have not expired; that the Company’s entire-fairness and validity defenses do not preclude a determination of advancement entitlement at this stage; and that Plaintiff is entitled to fees-on-fees. I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND 1 Maju Kuruvilla (“Plaintiff” or “Kuruvilla”) was CEO of Bolt Financial, Inc.

(“Defendant” or “Bolt” or the “Company”).2 Bolt is a financial technology company and a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in San Francisco,

1 The facts in this report reflect my findings based on the record developed at the hearing held on July 9, 2026. I grant the evidence, the weight, and credibility I find it deserves. Citations to the Docket are cited in the form of “D.I.” 2 D.I. 9 ¶ 4.

C.A. No. 2026-0435-LM August 12, 2026 Page 3 of 20

California.3 Kuruvilla joined Bolt as its Chief Technology Officer in December 2020 and was promoted to CEO and joined the Board of Directors in January 2022.4 Kuruvilla and Ryan Loh, on behalf of Bolt, executed the Indemnification Agreement (the “Agreement”) on April 29, 2022.5 The Agreement states that Bolt will “indemnify[] and . . . advance expenses on behalf of [Kuruvilla].”6 The Agreement spells out these obligations in different provisions.7 Sections 1 through 4 address indemnification, while Section 5 separately addresses advancement. Bolt’s obligations under the Agreement only “continue . . . so long as [Kuruvilla] shall be subject to any Proceeding.” 8 Section 5 of the Agreement states:

Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, the Company shall advance all Expenses incurred by or on behalf of Indemnitee in connection with any Proceeding by reason of Corporate Status within thirty (30) days after the receipt by the Company of a statement or statements from Indemnitee requesting such advance or advances from time to time, whether prior to or after final disposition of such Proceeding. Such statement or statements shall reasonably evidence the Expenses incurred by Indemnitee and shall include or be preceded or accompanied by a written undertaking by or on behalf of Indemnitee to repay any Expenses advanced if it shall ultimately be determined that Indemnitee is not entitled to be indemnified against

3 Id. ¶¶ 5, 8.

4 D.I. 9 ¶ 8; D.I. 13 at 3.

5 D.I. 9 ¶ 9; D.I. 1, Ex. A at 14.

6 D.I. 1, Ex. A at 1.

7 Id. §§ 1–4 (indemnification obligations), 5 (advancement obligations).

8 Id. § 10.

C.A. No. 2026-0435-LM August 12, 2026 Page 4 of 20

such Expenses. Any advances and undertakings to repay pursuant to this Section 5 shall be unsecured and interest free.9

Section 10 of the Agreement states:

All agreements and obligations of the Company contained herein shall continue during the period Indemnitee is an officer or director of the Company (or is or was serving at the request of the Company as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise) and shall continue thereafter so long as Indemnitee shall be subject to any Proceeding (or any proceeding commenced under Section 7 hereof) by reason of his Corporate Status, whether or not he is acting or serving in any such capacity at the time any liability or expense is incurred for which indemnification can be provided under this Agreement. 10

Section 13(f) of the Agreement defines “Proceeding” as:

any threatened, pending or completed action, suit, arbitration, alternate dispute resolution mechanism, investigation, inquiry, administrative hearing or any other actual, threatened or completed proceeding, whether brought by or in the right of the Company or otherwise and whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, in which Indemnitee was, is or will be involved as a party or otherwise, by reason of his or her Corporate Status, by reason of any action taken by him or of any inaction on his part while acting in his or her Corporate Status;

in each case whether or not he is acting or serving in any such capacity at the time any liability or expense is incurred for which indemnification can be provided under this Agreement; including one pending on or before the date of this Agreement, but excluding one initiated by an Indemnitee pursuant to Section 7 of this Agreement to enforce his rights under this Agreement. 11

9 Id. § 5.

10 Id. § 10.

11 Id. § 13(f).

C.A. No. 2026-0435-LM August 12, 2026 Page 5 of 20

On July 17, 2023, while Kuruvilla was CEO of Bolt, Activant Venture Advisors, a Bolt investor sued Bolt’s founder and directors, including Kuruvilla, in the Delaware Court of Chancery, alleging various claims on behalf of Bolt (the “Activant Action”).12 Bolt advanced Kuruvilla’s fees for the Activant Action pursuant to the Agreement. 13 While the Activant Action was pending, Bolt ended Kuruvilla’s employment in March 2024.14 On May 28, 2024, Kuruvilla executed a Release of Claims (the “Release”) concerning Kuruvilla’s separation from Bolt. 15 The Release provided Kuruvilla a salary of $1 million, paid his health insurance coverage, and granted him the acceleration of 153,583 shares of unvested stock and 2,246,781 additional restricted stock units. 16 In exchange, Kuruvilla agreed to a broad, general release and waiver of claims against Bolt and a covenant not to sue Bolt with respect to any such released claims.17 At the time the parties executed the Release, the Activant

12 D.I. 9 ¶ 17; see Activant Ventures Advisors II, LLC v. Breslow, No. 2023-0721-NAC, 2024 WL 5155787 (Del.Ch. Dec. 16, 2024). 13 D.I. 1 ¶21.

14 D.I. 9 ¶ 18.

15 Id. ¶ 19.

16 D.I. 1, Ex. B § 3.

17 Id. §§ 6(a), 8.

C.A. No. 2026-0435-LM August 12, 2026 Page 6 of 20

Action remained pending against Kuruvilla. The Release contains an integration clause entitled “Complete and Voluntary Agreement.”18 Section 6(c) of the Release states:

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Maju Kuruvilla v. Bolt Financial, Inc., (Del. Ct. App. 2026).

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