Nordic Capital has announced the appointment of technology and payments veteran Mohit Agnihotri as a new partner for the European private equity firm that recently raised its EUR 9 billion Fund XI.
Nordic Capital spoke exclusively to Finextra on the new appointment and next steps for Nordic Capital in fintech investments.
Agnihotri holds extensive experience across banking, payments, technology, and consulting, and was previously global head of JP Morgan’s payments investment banking team before moving across to Financial Technology Partners (FT Partners) as a managing director at the firm’s London office.
With a graduate degree in computer science from IIT Delhi and subsequent experience working in Silicon Valley, Agnihotri also worked on the transformation of the core transaction processing system at Visa Throughout his career, he has been involved in multiple high-profile deals for fintech firms such as Adyen, iZettle, Mambu, Mollie, and Nets.
Fredrik Naslund, partner and head of technology and payments at Nordic Capital Advisors also spoke with Finextra on the appointment: “Nordic Capital has become one of the most prominent investors in financial software, payments, and fintech. We have been working with Mohit, advising us on the other side for these sectors, and we are very pleased to have him joining us. He brings a great network and breadth of experience, and he also has a fantastic personality. We are doing this as an investment for the future as we continue to further strengthen our presence in these sectors.”
Agnihotri explains that he was attracted to the “culture match” with Nordic Capital, due to its outstanding track record of identifying and nurturing industry champions, unique partnership approach, and distinct collaborative culture. Agnihotri explains that there is a massive transformation going on in the financial services industry which provides opportunities to work with the winners through investments, and by bringing industry knowledge to improve products and services for consumers.
“My aim is to continue to build upon Nordic’s impressive accomplishments and also play a part in the growth and development of some incredible fintech companies that will have a transformational impact on the financial services sector,” says Agnihotri.
Commenting on the state of the market post-crash of Silicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse, Naslund and Agnihotri agree that notwithstanding the short-term volatility in the market, when it comes to their investments, they are looking into the long-term of the financial industry and that focusing on technology remains critical.
Agnihotri emphasises that the innovations that are happening in payments, including bundling of software and payment solutions, cross-border payments, open banking, B2B payments, among others, present exciting areas for investment. The formation of technology infrastructure in software programs and digitisation is where there is an increasing complexity growing in the global financial system and where investment should follow.
Naslund adds that Nordic Capital has several successful portfolio companies capitalising on the trends Agnihotri spoke about including Trustly, Regnology, and Duco, “With Mohit’s experience, we really look forward to further pushing and deepening Nordic Capital’s investment activity into those segments.”
Agnihotri comments on the surge in interest in AI and machine learning: “AI is one of those horizontal technologies, which is not only going to impact every facet of financial services but probably every industry. In addition to new AI-based fintech and software companies, we also expect many of the existing financial software companies to add AI-based products to their suit of offerings.”
Discussing the future of the fintech market, Agnihotri and Naslund agree that the market is soft at the moment, and while there is an increase in activity in the US, they predict that Europe will probably bounce back at a later stage.
On the IPO market, Agnihotri concludes: “From my previous role, we know many folks who were considering an IPO listing and where they could or should list, but it was not in the near term. There's appetite to do so but people are waiting for the IPO window to open.”
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