India’s fintech ecosystem is evolving into one of the most influential digital finance markets in the world. From payments and wealth management to financial education and inclusion-focused lending, the sector now touches nearly every part of how consumers and businesses interact with money.
At the center of that growth are founders, operators, investors, and creators building platforms that shape how millions of Indians save, invest, borrow, transact, and learn about finance. Some are leading major fintech companies. Others are building financial literacy movements, investing ecosystems, or technology platforms expanding access to underserved communities.
This edition of NewInAsia’s Top Fintech Voices in India highlights leaders whose influence extends beyond company titles. Through scale, public engagement, innovation, and ecosystem impact, these individuals are helping define the future of financial technology in India.
Highlights
Nikhil Kamath
Co-Founder, Zerodha & True Beacon
Nikhil Kamath is one of the most influential figures in India’s investing and fintech ecosystem through his work at Zerodha, described on his profile as “India’s #1 brokerage platform and trading community.” Alongside Zerodha, he also co-founded wealth management platform True Beacon and investment firm Gruhas.
Through Gruhas, Kamath backs purpose-driven companies across DeepTech, Climate Tech, Sustainability, Consumer, and proptech sectors. The firm’s partnerships with Brigade Group and Collective Artists Network reflect a broader focus on building long-term, capital-efficient ventures.
Kamath’s influence extends beyond brokerage and investing. His work increasingly sits at the intersection of entrepreneurship, venture building, and modern wealth creation — themes that continue to shape India’s fintech landscape.
In many ways, he represents the rise of founder-investors helping drive both financial participation and innovation ecosystems at scale.
Radhika Gupta
MD & CEO, Edelweiss Mutual Fund
Radhika Gupta leads one of India’s fastest-growing asset management companies as Managing Director and CEO of Edelweiss Asset Management. According to her profile, the company manages approximately ₹1.7 lakh crores in assets under management, equivalent to roughly USD 18 billion.
Beyond overseeing investments, sales, compliance, technology, and operations, Gupta has also become one of India’s most recognizable public voices on investing and wealth creation. Her profile highlights her work as an author, storyteller, TEDx and Josh Talks speaker, as well as her role as a Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum.
Gupta’s visibility reflects a growing shift within fintech and financial services — where trust, education, and accessibility increasingly matter alongside products and technology.
Her inclusion in this list highlights the growing importance of financial literacy, investing participation, and modern wealth management within India’s digital finance ecosystem.
Sharan Hegde
Founder & CEO, 1% Club
Sharan Hegde has built one of India’s fastest-growing finance creator ecosystems through 1% Club and Finance With Sharan. According to his profile, he has built an audience of more than 1 crore followers across Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn, while his finance content has generated more than 1 billion views.
His platform, 1% Club, positions itself as India’s leading platform for financial freedom. The company states that it is a SEBI-registered RIA managing more than ₹2,000 crores and has impacted over 1 million people across more than 500 cities.
Hegde’s rise reflects a major shift happening within fintech — where creator-led financial education and digital communities are becoming increasingly influential in shaping investing behavior and financial awareness among younger audiences.
Recognitions, including Forbes 30 Under 30, GQ Most Influential Person of the Year 2024, and multiple Finance Influencer of the Year awards, further highlight the scale of his public reach and engagement.
Harshil Mathur
CEO & Co-Founder, Razorpay
Harshil Mathur co-founded Razorpay after identifying what he described as the “dismal state of online payments in India.” Since launching in 2014, Razorpay has grown into one of the country’s fastest-growing neobanking companies.
The company is backed by major global investors, including GIC, Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital, Matrix Partners, Tiger Global, and Y Combinator — positioning Razorpay among India’s most closely watched fintech infrastructure companies.
Mathur represents a critical side of India’s fintech growth story: the infrastructure powering digital commerce, online payments, and financial operations for businesses.
As digital transactions continue expanding across India’s economy, leaders building payment and banking infrastructure remain central to the future of financial technology adoption.
Swati (Dhawan) Bhargava
Co-Founder, CashKaro & EarnKaro
Swati Bhargava co-founded CashKaro and EarnKaro, two platforms focused on cashback, affiliate commerce, and income generation at scale. According to her profile, the platforms have built a community of more than 27 million members and drive approximately ₹8,000 crores in annual sales across 1,500+ partner brands.
EarnKaro has become particularly notable within India’s creator economy. The platform states that it drives more than 80% of affiliate commerce on Telegram, with top users earning up to ₹50 lakhs per month through affiliate sharing.
Bhargava’s work sits at the intersection of fintech, e-commerce, creator monetization, and digital entrepreneurship. Her profile also highlights backing from investors, including Kalaari Capital, Korea Investment Partners, Affle Global, and the late Ratan Tata.
Recognitions, including Fortune 40 Under 40, Forbes India, and the UN’s 75 Women Changemakers, further reinforce her influence across India’s startup and digital commerce ecosystem.
Avnish Bajaj
Founder & Investor, Z47
Avnish Bajaj is one of India’s most experienced startup investors and ecosystem builders. His profile includes leadership roles across Apple Computer, Goldman Sachs, Matrix Partners India, and Baazee.com — the Indian e-commerce company that was later acquired by eBay.
Today, Bajaj leads Z47, the new identity of Matrix Partners India, which manages approximately $3 billion in assets under management focused on venture and early-growth investing.
His background combines entrepreneurship, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital, and technology investing — giving him a long-term perspective on how India’s startup and fintech ecosystems have evolved.
For this edition, Bajaj represents the investor side of fintech innovation, supporting companies shaping the future of digital finance and technology-enabled business models.
Lizzie Chapman
Co-Founder, baysys
Lizzie Chapman is a fintech entrepreneur and operator with more than two decades of experience across financial services and technology. She previously co-founded ZestMoney, described on her profile as India’s leading digital lending platform and an early innovator of “buy now, pay later.”
According to her profile, ZestMoney raised more than $120 million in equity and reached $50 million in annual revenue. Chapman also co-founded the Digital Lenders Association of India, advised the Government’s Start-up Advisory Council, and served on the National Payments Corporation Innovation Council.
She currently co-founded baysys, a platform focused on distressed consumer debt resolution in emerging markets using an AI-native technology stack combined with risk and compliance systems.
Chapman’s career reflects the increasingly sophisticated relationship between fintech, lending infrastructure, regulation, and AI-enabled financial systems in India.
Priti Rathi Gupta
Founder, Lxme
Priti Rathi Gupta founded Lxme, described on her profile as India’s first financial platform for women. The platform focuses on helping women build financial planning knowledge and invest through accessible financial tools and education.
Before launching Lxme, Gupta spent more than 27 years in capital markets, commodities, and currency sectors as Managing Director at Anand Rathi. Her profile highlights her role in building commodities, currency, and forex advisory businesses, as well as establishing international partnerships.
Her work addresses one of the most important long-term themes in fintech and wealth management — improving financial literacy and participation among women audiences.
By combining financial education with investing access, Gupta represents the growing movement toward more inclusive wealth ecosystems in India.
Sameer Nigam
Founder & CEO, PhonePe
Sameer Nigam leads one of India’s largest fintech platforms as Founder and CEO of PhonePe. According to the company profile, PhonePe has grown to more than 700 million registered users and 50 million merchants across 98% of India’s postal codes since launching in 2016.
The platform’s ecosystem now spans payments, insurance, lending, wealth management, and stock broking through Share.Market, and Indus App Store — described as India’s first localized Android app marketplace.
PhonePe’s scale reflects how deeply fintech has become integrated into everyday life across India, from urban centers to smaller towns and underserved regions.
Nigam’s inclusion highlights the continuing importance of digital payments infrastructure and mass-scale financial access within India’s fintech transformation.
Sucharita Mukherjee
Co-Founder & CEO, Kaleidofin Private Limited
Sucharita Mukherjee leads Kaleidofin, a fintech platform focused on expanding financial access for low-income customers and businesses in the informal economy. According to the company profile, Kaleidofin currently impacts more than 4 million customers across India, Bangladesh, and Kenya.
The platform combines credit health assessment systems, middleware rails, risk management dashboards, and debt capital market structuring capabilities designed to improve access to financial solutions.
Mukherjee’s work places financial inclusion at the center of fintech innovation. Her profile also highlights efforts to expand funding access for women entrepreneurs through securitization, co-lending arrangements, and structured finance approaches.
As fintech increasingly expands beyond urban consumers and mainstream banking, Kaleidofin represents the growing importance of accessible and inclusive financial infrastructure across emerging markets.
The Minds Driving India’s Digital Finance Boom
India’s fintech ecosystem is no longer defined by a single category. Payments, investing, financial education, lending, wealth management, and financial inclusion are increasingly converging into a broader digital finance economy.
The leaders featured in this list reflect that shift from different angles — building platforms at scale, expanding financial access, reshaping investing culture, and helping millions better understand money and technology.
Together, they represent the growing influence of India’s fintech ecosystem not just within the country, but across the future of digital finance in Asia.
Highlights
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