Lending platform Niro shuts down after $100m AUM milestone

Fintech startup Niro has shut down after operating for four and a half years, founder Aditya Kumar announced in a social media post.

Kumar confirmed that the decision to wind down came in response to regulatory pressure, credit deterioration and limited access to new capital.

Niro was founded in 2021 by Aditya Kumar and Sankalp Mathur. The company positioned itself as a B2B2C platform that enabled consumer internet companies to integrate lending products for their users.

According to the company’s product information, Niro facilitated personal loans ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 7 lakh with tenures between six and 72 months. Interest rates on the loans ranged from 12 per cent to 28 per cent.

The company said it built assets under management of $100 million in just over 24 months and reached 170 million users at its peak through partnerships with consumer platforms.

Funding

Niro raised approximately $20 million from domestic and international investors over its lifetime. According to Entrackr, its backers included Elevar Equity, GMO Venture Partners, Rebright Partners, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital, and Innoven Capital.

The company scaled rapidly during India’s digital lending boom between 2021 and 2023, supported by this funding.

Financial filings reviewed by TheKredible showed Niro recorded Rs 7.86 crore in revenue in FY24, a 59 per cent decline from Rs 19.09 crore in FY23. Net losses widened to Rs 48.7 crore in FY24, compared with Rs 36.9 crore in FY23.

The company’s financial report for FY25 has not yet been disclosed.

Regulatory environment

Niro’s closure comes after increased regulatory scrutiny of digital lending. The Reserve Bank of India introduced tighter rules in 2022, requiring lenders and platforms to comply with stricter know-your-customer procedures and limiting pass-through lending arrangements.

The Economic Times reported that these measures, combined with rising delinquencies in unsecured lending, created a challenging environment for smaller fintech firms. For Niro, which depended on third-party platforms and external financing, the rules increased compliance costs and risk.

In his post, Kumar acknowledged the difficulties but confirmed the decision to shut operations. He said the company had reached scale quickly but could not continue under the existing conditions.

Niro’s shutdown adds to a series of closures in India’s startup ecosystem. According to Inc42, more than 100 startups across sectors such as gaming, social media, farm-to-fork, and electric vehicles have shut down in recent years. Closures in the lending space, however, have been relatively few.

Entrackr noted that Niro’s case highlights the pressure on lending models tied to consumer internet platforms, which are heavily affected by credit cycles and regulatory adjustments.