Sirish Kumar is the CEO and Co-founder of Telr, an international e-payment solution for businesses to easily and securely accept and manage online payments.

A seasoned C-suite executive, Kumar is widely acknowledged as one of the most distinguished finance professionals in the industry. With an unstinted focus on emerging markets and SME businesses, Kumar spearheads Telr across Middle East, South Asian economies and in India.

Highly regarded for his expertise in credit finance, financial modelling and evaluation, mergers and acquisitions, commercial negotiations and project management, Kumar believes that what truly defines him is his great team building and inter-personal skills. He has managed large teams of 30+ members in different cultural contexts and has successfully led succession planning.

Kumar began his career with Cargill, and worked in senior leadership roles with Motorola, Nokia Solutions and Network across multiple geographies including the USA, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, India and other emerging markets. Prior to co-founding Telr in 2014, Kumar was the CFO for PayPal in ASEAN and India, where he led the growth strategy, geographic expansion, financial planning and analytics, acquisitions and new ventures helming the operations across functions. He also has been an angel investor and led social entrepreneurship initiatives in Singapore and the Philippines.

At Telr, Kumar attracted an experienced talented multi-cultural team around core tenets which are summed up as ‘SAVE’ (Speed of innovation, Alignment, Values and Execution). He played an instrumental role in identifying risks and issues in specific emerging markets by raising funds, developing the governance framework, leading “first in the market� unique revenue sharing deals with acquiring banks in multiple geographies and by signing partnerships with large telecom groups. Kumar is also responsible for articulating the vision for the company and executing it by defining specific key performance indicators. With the aim to establish Telr as the preferred financial service partner to SMEs, Kumar is committed to grow the businesses in emerging markets through a localised approach.

A Chartered Accountant by profession, Kumar has an MBA in General Management from INSEAD.

An avid tennis player himself, Kumar is an enthusiastic Roger Federer fan who enjoys catching up with friends across the globe.