Setu, the API-led fintech platform acquired by Pine Labs in 2022, has announced a series of senior-level appointments as part of its ongoing expansion strategy. The Bengaluru-based startup, known for its financial infrastructure offerings, has brought in leaders from prominent fintechs including Razorpay, PhonePe, and Wibmo.
In a major move, Prashanth Nimmagadda has been named Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Nimmagada previously held the role of Vice President of Engineering at Razorpay and has also served in leadership roles at LinkedIn and Microsoft.
Earlier this year, Pine Labs appointed Vijeth Pandit as Chief Product Officer. Pandit brings nearly three years of experience from Razorpay, where he was Senior Director of Product Management. Another key addition to the leadership team is Ramkumar Thirumurthi, former head of Razorpay’s neobanking vertical and cofounder of Actyv.ai, who has taken over as Chief Revenue Officer.
In June, Setu brought on board Nikhil Ratanpal, previously the product lead for PhonePe’s payment gateway business, as Director of Product Development. The company also appointed Santosh Subramanian as Head of Finance. Subramanian has worked with Yes Bank and Wibmo, which is owned by PayU.
These changes come shortly after Anand Raisinghani took over as CEO. Raisinghani previously held senior roles at SAP India and succeeded Setu cofounder Sahil Kini.
Founded in 2018 by Sahil Kini and Nikhil Kumar, Setu operates as an API infrastructure provider offering services across bill payments, savings, credit, and payments. The startup is also a licensed Account Aggregator under the Reserve Bank of India and plays a key role in supporting fintechs, banks, and enterprises across India’s digital finance ecosystem.
Setu’s AI Foray: Launch of BFSI-Focused LLM
In May 2024, Setu made its debut in the generative AI space with the launch of Sesame, a large language model (LLM) developed specifically for the banking and financial services (BFSI) sector. The company said the model was developed in partnership with AI startup SarvamAI and trained on custom local datasets.
According to an earlier report by Inc42, “Sesame was trained on custom local data and aimed at improving key financial operations such as credit underwriting, fraud detection, loan monitoring, and personal finance advisory.” Setu noted that the model “leveraged internal company data and could help enterprises significantly enhance the accuracy of insights drawn from financial statements.”
With growing industry interest in generative AI, Setu’s AI initiative signals its intent to stay ahead in the evolving fintech landscape—enhancing everything from personalised financial experiences to backend automation in banking workflows.
Backed by investors like Lightspeed, Falcon Edge, and Alpha Wave Global, Setu is now focused on deepening its role as a core enabler of India’s API-first financial infrastructure.
