# Kaustav Das

> Kaustav Das is the New York-based CEO and co-founder of Efficient Capital Labs, founded with Manish Arora in 2022. After roughly 15 years at American Express and senior risk roles at Kabbage, Petal and Quadpay, he turned to financing recurring-revenue businesses operating across borders. ECL now also offers cross-border payments and uses its AURA platform to assist underwriting.

- **Role:** CEO and Co-Founder at Efficient Capital Labs
- **Organizations:** Efficient Capital Labs, American Express, Kabbage, Petal, Quadpay
- **Education:** Don Bosco
- **Known for:** Co-founded Efficient Capital Labs in 2022., Led ECL through an $11 million Series A announced in August 2024., ECL reported more than $70 million in financing originated and over 100 companies served at its August 2024 funding announcement.

## Career timeline

- **Before 2017** — Spent approximately 15 years at American Express, including as chief credit officer for non-card lending.
- **2016-2017** — Moved from American Express to Kabbage as chief risk officer; described the transition with this approximate date range in a 2024 interview.
- **2020** — Publicly identified as chief risk and analytics officer at Petal.
- **Before 2022** — Held a senior risk and analytics role at Quadpay.
- **2021** — Visited India while exploring the financing needs of software founders; began fundraising in late 2021.
- **2022** — Co-founded Efficient Capital Labs with Manish Arora.
- **2023** — ECL announced a $7 million funding round led by QED Investors.
- **2024** — ECL announced an $11 million Series A co-led by QED Investors and 645 Ventures.
- **2025** — ECL introduced AURA, its AI-assisted underwriting platform.
- **2026** — ECL announced ECL Flow for US-to-India cross-border payments.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Efficient Capital Labs in 2022.
- Led ECL through an $11 million Series A announced in August 2024.
- ECL reported more than $70 million in financing originated and over 100 companies served at its August 2024 funding announcement.
- ECL’s team page, accessed October 2026, reports serving 250+ AI and SaaS startups across 20 countries.

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — ECL announced ECL Flow on March 17, targeting US-to-India payments for AI and SaaS companies.
- **2025-11** — ECL published its introduction to AURA on November 6, describing AI-assisted analysis of banking, financial, contractual and counterparty data with human review.
- **2024-08** — ECL announced its $11 million Series A on August 21, co-led by QED Investors and 645 Ventures.

## Links

- Website: https://www.ecaplabs.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaustav-das-b6a86166

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/kaustav-das
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-22