Why Startups lending with small tickets, see a wave of CFO exits

Copyright © HT Digital Streams Limit all rights reserved. Companies Mansi Verma 3 min read April 19, 2025, 06:00 AM IT Over the past four months, at least three CFOs have gone out in the industry. (Beeld: Pixabay) Summary The statements of the FinTech financial heads come amid valuation marks, increased regulatory investigation and a shift in investor sentiment away from high-growth lending plays. India’s digital lending space with small tickets has more than just regulatory print-it sees an exodus of financing heads. Over the past four months, at least three financial officers (CFOs) have left Fintechs working in the industry. The exits come, even though several of these firms are still in recovery mode, and navigate valuation marks, stricter examination of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and a shift in investor sentiment away from high-growth, high-risk. “The RBI regulation added the financial strategy and compliance. Secondly, the shift from growth to profitability made the role of the CFO more demanding. Third, many boards insist that the management of investor confidence restores,” said Rohit Srivastava, senior partner at the executive search and advisory firm Longhouse. The RBI has introduced a series of regulatory tightening measures over the past two to three years. The digital lending guidelines of 2022 have greater disclosures and restrictions on standard guarantee models of the first loss, including tightened measures. In November 2023, the Central Bank Banks and Financial Enterprises (NBFCs) ordered to provide more capital against unsecured loans and asked borrowers to moderate their exposure to high-risk segments. Beaten by the suppression of RBI, players in the Segment 2024 spent cleaning books, reducing risky loan portfolios and moving to secure and co-lending models. The growth took a rear seat when firms focused on stability, compliance and survival, a breakdown of their earlier expansion of the break. In the larger fintech ecosystem, “… some CFOs have left to start their own businesses. In many cases, businesses promote internal candidates or relocating managers on group companies to fulfill CFO roles. And increasingly, founders -especially those with financing backgrounds -take over CFO responsibilities themselves,” Srivastava added. According to the long house, near a dozen CFO transitions have occurred over FinTechs – including Zerodha, Paisabazaar – since 2023, where the average term of office amounts to about 3.5 years. The recent exits in the lending hit 1.3 years much lower than this average. Read also | At your points: FinTech Soonicorns Fast-Track IPO plans, and prepared for Marketers to end the CFO of Lending Cart, Balance Hero and Cashe, all players who offer fast, unsecured credit, have decreased between December and March, Mint learned. Mukund Barsagade, the CFO of Fullerton Financial Holdings-backed Lending Cart, left the company in December after just nine months in the role, people in the knowledge told Mint. He was preceded by Mohit Bajaj, who also departed within nine months of joining the lending firm in 2020. BaraAdades joined Utkarsh Small Finance Bank in December as its head of strategy and transformation, according to an update on his profile on the professional networking platform LinkedIn. Meanwhile, Jayesh Jain, CFO of Softbank Ventures Asia-backed Balance Hero’s Indian subsidiary True Balance, left the company in February. Jain later joined Commercial Vehicle Financier Indostar Capital Finance Ltd. joined as CFO, showed an update on his LinkedIn profile. In March, Gaurav Surana, Bhanix Finance and Investment Ltd-Run Cashe, also retired. Cashe spokesman confirmed the exit of his current CFO, saying Talib Lokhandwala, who previously served before the tenure of the company, will take the post again. “The unsecured lending sector in India has seen dynamic changes over the past few years, with leadership movements that often reflect the industry’s developing landscape. Although we have not yet seen a significant CXO level below peer enterprises, the rapid growth of the sector, regulatory developments and competitive pressure of the organization. Fullerton-backed Lending Cart, as CEO of April 1, 2025 in the former CEO of the DBS Bank, reported MoneyControl on Tuesday. Financing round last year to approximately $ 100 million. It is unclear whether the two companies have still found replacements. With many fintechs continuing to recalibrate strategies and try to maintain investor confidence, the continuity of leadership in some functions can become increasingly challenging. Also read: IPO-bound Lenskart’s CFO stop; are likely to join Coke India as financial head, all corporate news and updates on live mint. Download the Mint News app to get daily market updates and live business news. More Topics #unsecured Lenances #Startups Mint Specials