Pine Labs Appoints Former OnePlus CEO Navnit Nakra As Chief Revenue Officer

Fintech unicorn Pine Labs on Thursday (August 3) said it has appointed former OnePlus India CEO Navnit Nakra as its chief revenue officer (CRO). 

As the CRO, Nakra will be responsible for developing and executing growth strategies and will contribute to revenue generation and streamlining processes to attain efficiencies, Pine Labs said in a statement. 

As the CEO of OnePlus India, Nakra was responsible for operations and the overall business strategy in the country. Earlier Nakra also worked with Apple and Citibank. While he headed Apple’s affordability business in India, in his last role at Citibank, he led commercial solutions groups for India and was the regional lead for ecommerce segment across India, Greater China, and Korea.

Commenting on Nakra’s appointment, Kush Mehra, president and CBO of Pine Labs, said, “Navnit has been a long-time partner of Pine Labs through his previous stints, and has a deep understanding of our platform and products. He is a seasoned professional with a wealth of experience in the banking and technology space.”

Founded by Lokvir Kapoor in 1998, Pine Labs offers merchant payment solutions in India, Malaysia and the UAE. The company is backed by marquee names like MasterCard, State Bank of India, and Alpha Wave Ventures. It entered the coveted unicorn club in 2020.

Pine Labs’ revenue from operations rose 1.4X year-on-year to INR 1,017 Cr in FY22, while its net loss jumped 4.5% YoY to INR 259.1 Cr.

The company has been launching new products and services and acquiring companies over the last few months to shore up its topline.

In May this year, it partnered with ICICI Bank to enable the acceptance of digital rupee on its PoS machines. 

Earlier this year, the fintech unicorn launched its new venture Dukaan Studio to help small kirana store owners modernise their stores and offer customised products such as shopping bags, visiting cards, etc to the customers. 

Pine Labs also acquired Bengaluru-based Saluto Wellness to enter the employee rewards space and offer employee rewards and recognition, customer loyalty programs, and channel partner programs for medium and large enterprises. 

However, like many other Indian startups, it has also witnessed valuation cuts in recent times by its investors. Fidelity Investments and investment firm Neuberger Berman cut the valuation of their stake in Pine Labs earlier this year.

Amid this, Pine Labs has also likely deferred its IPO plans till next year.

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