Former Goldman Sachs executive joins Simpl as CFO, head of risk

Online payments startup Simpl has appointed Russell Byrne as its head of risk and the chief financial officer.

Byrne will be based in San Francisco and will head the organisation’s financial interests, the Bengaluru-based company said in a statement.

Prior to the current role, Byrne was working with Goldman Sachs as its managing director. During his stint, he co-founded a multi-billion-dollar principal financing business within the firm. 

Byrne, an active investor in the fintech space personally since 2014, has made both credit and equity investments in early-stage companies, the company said.

He holds an undergraduate degree in finance and economics from Merrimack College in North Andover, Massachusetts, USA.

“As Simpl works on re-imagining the world of payments for the internet-era, we firmly believe Russell’s experience will be invaluable in scaling our business and providing us with the expertise in risk and capital markets as we continue with our mission to make money simple,” said Chaitra Chidanand, co-founder and president at Simpl.

Simpl, founded in 2015 by Chaitra Chidanand and Nityanand Sharma, is a technology company. It works with merchants and financial institutions to help users make quick payments without having to enter card details, expiry dates and card verification value (CVV). 

In 2017, it had raised an undisclosed amount in Series A round led by US-based venture fund Green Visor Capital LP II.