Nikhil Gautam
Associate Director-Strategic Alliances & Partnerships
Needs3 Project100, Harlur Road,Bengaluru
Summary
I am Nikhil Gautam, a management professional with over 8+ years of experience in banking, retail, digital lending, e-business, and strategic alliances and partnerships. I have a strong sales background and excel in managing large teams across diverse geographies. As a people leader, I have demonstrated success in building and driving profitable business models. Outside of work, I am known for my vibrant personality and enjoy reading articles, traveling, listening to live music, and cooking.
Overview
7
7
years of professional experience
8
8
years of post-secondary education
3
3
Languages
Work History
Associate Director (Str.Alliance& Partnerships)
Lendingkart Finance Limited
7 2022 - Current
- Lead Pan India partnerships, managing ₹300 crore in monthly unsecured lending.
- Cultivated critical accounts, growing one to ₹150 crore, contributing 40% to LK business. Currently managing 45 major corporate accounts.
- Collaborated with Co-founders/CXO's on strategic initiatives, securing large accounts of ₹60 crore monthly, and strengthening company foundations.
- Generated new business through qualified meetings using personal network and social media.
- Successfully drove GTM strategy, securing major clients like Amazon, Flipkart, Razorpay, Pinelabs, Wishfin, Paytm, Fibe, Indifi, FTCash, Perfios, Nexarc, and Finbox.
- Leveraged LK B2B SAAS platform for major lender partnerships with ABFL, BAJAJ, FLEXILOANS, MUTHOOT, CHOLA, MAS, AXIS BANK, IDFC, KOTAK, and PSU banks and make them onboard for co-lending partnerships.
- Integrated various co-lending models such as FLDG (100:0, 80:0) with RE and Non-RE.
- Handled commercial discussions on hurdle rates, cross-sell charges, risk premium, and legal requirements.
- Managed P&L for Digital Sales, maintaining customer acquisition costs and creating a 6% profit margin on ₹300 crore revenue.
- Led a team of 20 employees, responsible for hiring and delegating tasks based on account criticality.
- Part of the Founder's team, worked on special projects like SML-smart leads and platform funding, scaling them to ₹120 crore monthly with a 3% profit margin.
- Collaborated with tech, product, data science, credit, and operations teams for seamless business flow.
- Worked with data science team on lead quality using BRE set (STP+RTC Flow), saving bandwidth by focusing on high-intent, quality customers.
- Improved partner journey with customized solutions, reduced TAT by 40%, and enhanced journey flow by addressing loopholes.
- Monitored collections and NPA, implementing measures with data science team like CIBIL algorithm, pin codes, industry segments, and 30/60/90 days DPD’s for quality sourcing.
- Evaluated and supported negotiations and execution of strategic partnerships and opportunities, performing quantitative and qualitative analyses, opportunity sizing, and resource prioritization.
- Managed deal pipeline and performance tracking, presenting business revenues to stakeholders.
- Supported long-term relationships with senior executives of current and prospective partners, handling high engagement volume and evaluating scalable deal archetypes to drive non-linear business impact.
Assistant Vice President (B2B Sales and Alliances)
Aadifidelis solutions private limited
12.2021 - 07.2022
- Led the entire digital marketplace for lending, managing both supply and demand sides with a monthly portfolio of ₹200 crore.
- Onboarded lenders with enhanced BRE, forming alliances with HDFC, ICICI, YES, KOTAK, AXIS, FULLERTON, TATA, HEROFIN, SURYODAY, and POONAWALA FINCORP.
- Oversaw deeper API integration, enhancing the lender journey with Aadi’s Platform and improved underwriting mechanisms.
- Forged partnerships and spearheaded the acquisition of lead providers, aggregators, and anchors across industry segments with extensive dealer/distributor networks (FMCG, Pharma, E-commerce, Automobile, Construction Material, etc.).
- Secured top players like Indiamart, Niyogin, Faircent, Moneycontrol and Bankopen generating a business volume of ₹200 crore.
- Managed different products including BL, PL, HL, and LAP, overseeing the complete P&L of the segment.
- Collaborated with Ops, Verification, Legal, Credit, Tech, and Product teams to ensure seamless business operations.
- Led a team of 30, including RMs, RSMs, and Alliance Managers.
- Analysed market trends, tracked competition, and provided valuable inputs to partner distributors to enhance business relations.
- Worked with marketing, customer experience, and other teams to plan and execute promotional activities.
- Built strong, profitable, long-term relationships with merchants, resellers, developers, and platform providers, expanding the partner ecosystem.
- Owned business targets for the assigned SMB merchant portfolio, focusing on revenue, gross margin, overall profitability, and cross-selling.
- Managed relationships with key decision makers (CXOs) across clients, providing new product solutions through extensive analytics, consulting, and communication.
- Conducted periodic business reviews to ensure client satisfaction and developed feedback loops for continuous improvement.
- Planned for consistent growth in key business metrics in line with company objectives and provided accurate monthly forecasts of opportunities
Manager(Digital Sales/Merchant Acquisition)
Kotak Mahindra Bank
04.2020 - 06.2021
- Managed top Indian fintechs (Paisa Bazaar, Bank Bazaar, Deal4loans, and India Lends) with a portfolio of ₹75 crore quarterly.
- Acquired local financial players, increasing sales by ₹25 crore monthly in the PL segment.
- Handled corporate branches of the entire region with an ₹8 crore monthly portfolio.
- Managed company internal channels including net banking, mobile banking, and internal campaign channels.
- Led a team of 30 BDMs, team leaders, and channel business managers.
- Cultivated robust relationships with CXOs by driving record-breaking revenue growth, demonstrating exceptional strategic acumen and aligning business goals with executive priorities to ensure mutual success and long-term collaboration.
- Received the Top Guns award for consecutive Q3 and Q4.
Deputy Manager(B2B-Corporate Sales)
Idfc First Bank
06.2017 - 04.2020
- Deal with corporate channel partners (Andromeda, Ruloans, Finwizz,Gen next),build relationship with them, guide them about Product, Policy and Process.
- Successfully executed many promotional, marketing and campaign activities for fresh business acquisition,conducted several field activities in industrial and other city / market areas.
- Executed tasks and responsibility of handling multiple products-cross sell (loan insurance, IHO, credit Vidhya).
- Received Chairmen’s award for highest sales in PL in Quarter 3rd.
Education
MBA - Sales And Marketing Education
Icfai Business School
Hyderabad 07.2015 - 02.2017
B.Tech - Electronics And Communications Engineering
SRM University
Delhi 08.2010 - 05.2014
CBSE -
Spring Dales School
Kota 03.2009 - 03.2010
CBSE -
Modern Senior Secondary School
Kota 02.2007 - 04.2008
Skills
Business Development
Strategic planning
Account management
PnL management
Hunting corporates
Sales and Distribution management
Risk management
Product Development
Research & Insights
Marketing and Growth
Accomplishments
- Honored with the Star Manager Award for achieving ₹300 crore in business.(2024)
- Received Top Guns Award for consecutive two quarters for Pan India no.1 RM for highest disbursal.(2022)
- Received Chairmen's Award for establishing new market for unsecured loan division.(2019)
- Received Ace Award for acquiring highest numbers of partnerships, Fintech's and NBFC's.(2020)
Timeline
Assistant Vice President (B2B Sales and Alliances)
Aadifidelis solutions private limited
12.2021 - 07.2022
Manager(Digital Sales/Merchant Acquisition)
Kotak Mahindra Bank
04.2020 - 06.2021
Deputy Manager(B2B-Corporate Sales)
Idfc First Bank
06.2017 - 04.2020
MBA - Sales And Marketing Education
Icfai Business School
07.2015 - 02.2017
B.Tech - Electronics And Communications Engineering
SRM University
08.2010 - 05.2014
CBSE -
Spring Dales School
03.2009 - 03.2010
CBSE -
Modern Senior Secondary School
02.2007 - 04.2008
Associate Director (Str.Alliance& Partnerships)
Lendingkart Finance Limited
7 2022 - Current
Similar Profiles
RAHUL SAWANTRAHUL SAWANT
Assistant Credit Manager at Upwards - Lendingkart Finance LimitedAssistant Credit Manager at Upwards - Lendingkart Finance Limited
Ashok Kumar SAshok Kumar S
Senior Manager- Lead at Karur Vysya Bank LimitedSenior Manager- Lead at Karur Vysya Bank Limited
Kailas R. KhedekarKailas R. Khedekar
Assistant Manager – Operations at Lendingkart Finance LTDAssistant Manager – Operations at Lendingkart Finance LTD