In recent months, Gurugram-based fintech PayU has seen several senior-level departures. According to sources, one of the top executives, who had been with the company since 2016, is the latest executive to step down.

Vijay Agicha, chief investment and transformation officer at PayU, has stepped down from his role, four people aware of the development told The Head and Tale.

Responding to The Head and Tale query seeking comment on this development, PayU spokesperson said, "As a company policy we do not comment on speculations."

A query sent to Vijay Agicha via LinkedIn seeking comment still remains unanswered. 

Agicha, a former executive at Mastercard and McKinsey, joined PayU in 2016 as global head of strategy. According to his LinkedIn profile, he currently serves on the boards of several PayU portfolio companies, including Fisdom, DotPe, and BriskPe. He was also a board observer at ZestMoney.

During his tenure, PayU made several notable investments and acquisitions, including acquiring Citrus Pay and PaySense, as well as investments in companies like Fisdom, DotPe, and IndiaGold.

Leadership Churn at PayU

Agicha’s resignation adds to a series of high-profile leadership exits at PayU and its parent Prosus over the past year. Last year, Prosus and PayU’s global heads, Bob van Dijk and Laurent Le Moal resigned. Additionally, PayU’s CFO Akash Moondhra and PayU Finance CEO Prashanth Ranganathan exited. However, Anirban Mukherjee was elevated to Global CEO of PayU.

In recent months, The Head and Tale has reported on other senior-level departures at PayU India, including Wibmo CEO Suresh Rajagopalan.

Last month, during a Prosus Strategy Share presentation, newly appointed Prosus CEO Fabricio Bloisi discussed ongoing leadership changes at PayU, another source had then informed.

Impact on IPO Plans

The leadership transitions come as PayU’s long-anticipated IPO appears to be facing delays. Initially expected by the end of 2024, Prosus now targets 2025 for PayU’s listing. Speaking on a media call earlier this month, Prosus CIO Ervin Tu said, “It’s currently not on that path. We’re late into 2024 already, but we hope that it could be a 2025 event.”

The uncertainty surrounding the IPO comes despite Prosus’s public optimism following Swiggy’s recent successful listing.

One source noted that Bloisi, who took over as CEO in July, was dissatisfied with PayU India’s FY24 performance during his visit recently. “The India business has failed to improve profitability, and the pressure to deliver results has intensified. They are cutting costs in areas that aren’t generating returns,” the source added.

According to Prosus’ annual report, its revenue from India – the largest market in PayU’s payment service provider (PSP) business – grew 11% to $444 million in FY24 despite being unable to onboard new merchants due to the noted embargo during the year. Revenue growth was driven by increasing volumes from existing merchants and growing value-added services such as affordability, it added. However, while its payments business in India achieved a 3% trading profit margin in FY23, this worsened to -3% in FY24 due to the change in merchant and payment method mix, it noted.

It added that it has continued investing and building new opportunities such as credit in India. "The credit business revenue has grown 12x since FY21, translating into a revenue CAGR of over 128%. This growth has been coupled with cost reductions, ensuring that the trading-loss margin continued to improve YoY," it explained.

With Agicha’s exit, PayU will likely need to recalibrate its plans, navigating additional adjustments in a challenging leadership transition period.