Setu Co-founder Nikhil Kumar Exits Pine Labs-Backed Fintech
Setu’s office space in Bengaluru, India, on an overcast day.
Key Highlights
Nikhil Kumar, co-founder of API infrastructure fintech Setu, steps down after 8 years. His departure follows Setu’s 2022 acquisition by Pine Labs.
Setu Cofounder Nikhil Kumar Departs
Nikhil Kumar, cofounder of the fintech platform Setu, has stepped down from his day-to-day operational role after a nearly eight-year tenure. Setu, which specializes in API infrastructure, was acquired by the fintech unicorn Pine Labs in 2022. Kumar announced his departure in a LinkedIn post, though his next professional steps remain undisclosed.
“After many years of building Setu, it is time for me to step away from my everyday role,” Kumar stated in his LinkedIn post. “It has been one of the most important chapters of my life.” An alumnus of Karnataka’s Visvesvaraya Technological University, Kumar previously cofounded Voyce, a customer feedback platform acquired by Exotel in 2015, before establishing Setu with Sahil Kini in 2018.
Setu’s Business and Acquisition by Pine Labs
Setu provides application programming interface (API) infrastructure for essential financial services, including bill payments, UPI, and KYC. The Bengaluru-based company also operates as a licensed account aggregator and launched Sesame, which it claims is India’s first large language model (LLM) specifically designed for the banking and financial services (BFSI) sector. The startup had raised over $18 million from investors such as Lightspeed, Falcon Edge, and Wave Global prior to its acquisition.
The departure follows a period of significant leadership restructuring at Setu. Approximately a year ago, the fintech platform strengthened its executive team by appointing Prashanth Nimmagada, an ex-Razorpay executive, as Chief Technology Officer, and Vijeth Pandit as Chief Product Officer. These appointments were part of an effort to expand the company’s strategic capabilities under Pine Labs’ ownership.
Executive Churn in Indian Startups
Kumar’s exit aligns with a broader trend observed across the Indian startup ecosystem, where several top executives and cofounders have recently transitioned from their roles. This movement often involves individuals seeking new ventures or shifting to other emerging companies.
For instance, Akash Dongre, cofounder and CPO of PhonePe-owned Indus Appstore, recently stepped down from his position. Last month, Himanshu Ratnoo, who departed from the used car marketplace CARS24, joined the electric bicycle startup EMotorad as a cofounder.
Further demonstrating this trend, May saw Pawan Gupta, cofounder and CEO of B2B fashion supply chain startup Fashinza, leave to explore opportunities in the AI space. Concurrently, Sumit Gwalani, cofounder of neobanking startup Fi Money, resigned amid reported financial challenges faced by the company.
In April, Navneet Singh Batra, cofounder of agritech startup Gramophone, moved to fruit supply chain startup Superplum as Chief Business Officer. Additionally, Aman Gupta, cofounder of boAt, saw his new venture, OFF/BEAT, successfully raise ₹100 crore in a seed funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners. This series of high-profile departures and new beginnings underscores a dynamic period for talent within India’s startup landscape.