It’s official: Pine Labs buys API infra startup Setu for $70-75 mn

New Delhi: Fintech unicorn Pine Labs has acquired fintech application programming interface (API) infrastructure startup Setu. The deal is worth around $70-75 million, Pine Labs CEO Amrish Rau said during a virtual press briefing on Thursday.

Headquartered in Bengaluru, Setu was launched by Sahil Kini and Nikhil Kumar in 2018. It offers open APIs across four categories—bills, savings, credit, and payments.

“Setu’s offerings including the interface for account aggregator, open network for digital commerce (ONDC), and open credit enablement network (OCEN) framework made Setu an attractive bet for us," Rau added.
Setu employs around 90-100 people. As part of the deal, Setu’s founders will continue to lead the company independently and the team will be retained, the founders said.
Setu has raised $18.5 million in funding so far. In 2019, it had raised $3.5 million from Lightspeed India Partners and Bharat Inclusion Seed Fund. In 2020, it secured $15 million from Falcon Edge and existing investors.