Niro officially shuts down after raising $20 million; founder says, 'We had done the impossible'

Fintech startup Niro has officially shut down after operating for four and a half years, co-founder Aditya Kumar announced in a LinkedIn post.

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Kumar shared that despite raising $20 million and disbursing $200 million in loans across 30 partnerships, the startup has decided to cease operations due to a combination of regulatory, credit, and capital challenges.

Founded in 2021 by Aditya Kumar and Sankalp Mathur, Niro was a B2B2C lending platform that enabled consumer internet companies to offer embedded credit to their users. The Bengaluru-based startup worked with major internet platforms and partnered with financial institutions to provide personal loans ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 7 lakh for 6 to 72 months, with interest rates between 12% and 28%.

Over its lifetime, Niro built $100 million in assets under management (AUM) within just two years of launch and reportedly saw more than 170 million user flows at its peak. Investors in Niro included Elevar Equity, GMO Venture Partners, Rebright Partners, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance VC, and Innoven Capital.

In his statement, Kumar said, “As a first-mover that saw scale quickly, I did not see this coming. We had done the impossible, hired incredible teams, raised high-quality capital, and convinced large consumer internet platforms and leading lenders to work with us. Despite scouring the globe for capital and the country for suitors — I wasn’t able to bring this one home.” 

Kumar attributed the shutdown to a “perfect storm” of regulatory tightening on personal lending, credit deterioration, and limited capital availability, which forced the company to pivot its business models multiple times.

He added that while financial institutions continue to seek access to quality consumer data for underwriting, regulatory pressures and low innovation appetite have slowed progress in the space.

Reflecting on the journey, he said he would “do it all over again,” emphasizing that Niro was “in the right place, at the right time, with the right backing.”

He expressed gratitude toward investors and employees who supported the startup through its most difficult phases, naming Jyotsna, Sandeep Farias, Shikha, and Elevar Equity among those who stood by them.

Kumar concluded by saying he plans to take time off to decompress and will attend Global Fintech Fest as a civilian, expressing optimism for the future of India’s fintech ecosystem.