Serial fintech entrepreneur and CRED founder Kunal Shah will be joining the board merchant commerce platform Pine Labs ahead of the latter’s potential IPO in the US.
Announcing the move in a tweet, Pine Labs CEO Amrish Rau said,
“We are excited to share that Kunal Shah will be joining our board. He is a deep thinker, executioner at scale, and a visionary. He has been a friend and someone who has been very good in sharing his ideas, as we transform Pine Labs.”
Kunal joins a marquee set of investors, advisors, and other board members who “are all committed to take Pine Labs to newer heights”, the company said in a statement.
“Kunal’s deep understanding of the consumer business will be invaluable to us as we explore new opportunities and step into our next phase of growth,” Amrish added.
B.Amrish Rau, Chief Executive Officer, Pine Labs
Prior to this, Kunal, who co-founded Freecharge (later acquired by Axis Bank), has also been an advisor to the board of Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd, the Chairman of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), and an advisor to Sequoia Capital India.
“The pandemic has catalysed behaviour change among consumers, merchants, and institutions that will drive the fintech sector. Shaping this transformation for the benefit of all stakeholders is a collective responsibility. Pine Labs is a player in digital payments adoption and joining its board is an opportunity to contribute to the ecosystem,” said Kunal in a statement.
Interestingly, Amrish Rau, who earlier co-founded Citrus Pay and also served as the CEO of PayU India, was an angel investor in CRED in 2019.
Kunal’s appointment to the Pine Labs board was met with enthusiasm by Shailendra Singh, MD of Sequoia Capital (which led Series A and Series B rounds in CRED in 2019).
“Thrilled to have Kunal Shah join the Pine Labs board… looking forward to next level of insights, creativity and connecting the dots,” he said in a tweet.
Pine Labs, meanwhile, is expanding its footprint in international markets with its ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ offering. It has also made strategic investments in the B2C segment with the acquisition of Fave in April.
Last month, it raised a $600 million round led by Fidelity and BlackRock. The $3.5 billion unicorn’s other investors include Sequoia Capital, Temasek Holdings, Actis, PayPal, and Mastercard.
