Lendingkart Ropes In Former Paytm Payments Bank Executive Mukund Barsagade As Group CFO

Fintech startup Lendingkart has appointed Mukund Barsagade as its group chief financial officer. 

In his capacity as group CFO at Lendingkart, Barsagade will be leading the finance, capital markets, legal and secretarial functions, playing a pivotal role in shaping the company’s next phase of growth. 

Barsagade comes with 28 years of experience in BFSI and IT sectors.

Prior to joining Lendingkart, he was associated with Paytm Payments Bank as CFO. Earlier, he worked as CFO at Utkarsh Small Finance Bank and Fino Payments Bank, besides serving in leadership roles at GE Capital, Experian, Transamerica and others.

Barsagade’s contribution will be critical to help drive the step up in Lendingkart’s performance that the company is determined to deliver, Moneycontrol reported, citing founder and CEO Harshvardhan Lunia.

Commenting on the lendingtech segment of India, Barsagade said, “The lending tech space for MSMEs is a fast-growing opportunity and joining Lendingkart, which is a leader in the space, is extremely exciting. I look forward to working with the team and together, we will surely aid in achieving the company’s goal of simplifying finances for MSME’s across the country.”

Founded by Lunia in 2014, Lendingkart has an NBFC licence and disburses loans to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The startup has two main revenue sources – income from interest and its financial services offerings.

Lendingkart turned profitable in FY23 with a consolidated net profit of INR 118.8 Cr as against a net loss of INR 203.4 Cr in the prior fiscal. The startup also secured a $24 Mn debt funding from EvolutionX Debt Capital last year. 

Barsagade’s resignation comes at a time when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) ordered Paytm Payments Bank to stop adding new customers to its accounts or digital wallets from March 2024 on the grounds of ‘material supervisory concerns’ and ‘continuing failure by the bank to adhere to RBI’s regulatory guidelines.’

Also, the appointment comes days after the bank announced in its filings that CEO and MD Surinder Chawla is set to be relieved of his duties by June.

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