After Raising $20 Mn, Fintech Startup Niro Shuts Operations

Bengaluru-based fintech startup Niro has shut operations due to regulatory challenges and lack of capital. 

“$20 Mn in funding, $200 Mn in loan disbursements, 30 partnerships and 4.5 years later – we’ve had to shut down Niro,” the startup’s founder Aditya Kumar said in a LinkedIn post. 

Kumar said that the reason behind the shutdown was changes in regulations, capital crunch and decline in credit quality. “… a perfect storm of regulatory pushback on personal lending, credit deterioration and sub-optimal capitalisation forced us to pivot business models (successfully), just as capital ran out. Despite scouring the globe for capital and the country for suitors – I wasn’t able to bring this one home,” said Kumar. 

Founded in 2021 by Kumar and Sankalp Mathur, Niro provided embedded credit solutions. It allowed consumer businesses to embed customised credit offerings to drive revenue growth. The startup partnered with the likes of Aditya Birla Capital, IDFC First Bank, Muthoot Finance, PayU Finance, among others, to offer credit to customers. 

Kumar said that Niro had 170 Mn users at its peak and an AUM of $100 Mn in just over 24 months from its launch. 

“We had done impossible: hired incredible teams, raised high-quality, patient capital, all while convincing large consumer internet platforms and industry leading lenders to work with us to unlock value at scale,” he added. However, capital crunch brought an abrupt end to the startup’s journey. 

Looking ahead, Kumar said he would take “some time off to decompress”. Notably, Kumar cofounded fintech platform Qbera before Niro. Qbera was acquired by InCred in 2020. Following this, he served as the head of consumer lending at InCred Financial Services.

Niro counted the likes of Elevar Equity, Patni Family, InnoVen Capital, CRED”s Kunal Shah, Marui Group among its investors. 

The startup posted an operating revenue of INR 9.5 Cr in FY23, while its net loss stood at INR 23.8 Cr during the year.

With the shutdown, Niro has joined the likes of Beepkart, Otipy, and Blip among the startups which have wound up their operation in 2025.

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