Fintech startup Niro shuts down after raising $20 million
08 Oct 2025, 03:03 PMAccording to the company, it built $100mn in AUM in just over 24 months from launch and saw over 170 million users flow through Niro at peak.
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Fintech startup Niro has shut down after four and a half years of operations. The company's founder Aditya Kumar announced the decision in a social media post.
"$20 million in funding, $200 million in loan disbursements, 30 partnerships and 4.5 years later - we've had to shut down Niro," Kumar wrote on LinkedIn.
Founded by Kumar and Sankalp Mathur, the company enabled consumer internet platforms offer instant loans by teaming up with banks and NBFCs. The has raised around $20 million in total funding till date from investors including Elevar Equity, GMO Venture Partners, Rebright Partners, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance VC, and Innoven Capital.
According to the company, it built $100mn in AUM in just over 24 months from launch and saw over 170 million users flow through Niro at peak.
But sure enough, 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.
However, regulatory pressure on personal lending, credit deterioration, and "sub-optimal capitalisation" forced the company to pivot business models -- just as capital ran out.
In Fy24, Niro reported Rs 7.86 crore in revenue from Rs 19.09 crore in FY23. The net loss widened to Rs 48.7 crore in FY24, compared to Rs 36.9 crore in FY23.
Several startups have shut shop over few years. Most recently, The Head and Tale reported that wealth-tech startup founded by former PayU India credit chief Prashanth Ranganathan, Zinc is shutting down operations less than a year after securing a large $25.5 million seed funding round led by Nexus Venture Partners.
In a message addressed to users, the company said: "Zinc will be shutting down operations." Responding to The Head and Tale query, founder Prashanth Ranganathan said, "To clarify, we are not shutting operations. We are merely exiting certain lines of business and focussing our efforts more on specific AI strategies to help serve our customers better. Zinc continues to be funded and in good standing."
"We will not be offering our brokerage service – that’s the only change," he added. Zinc also discontinued its core offerings which included helping Indian families financially prepare for their children's overseas education.
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