Niresh Rajah
About Niresh Rajah
Niresh Rajah is an executive in financial and professional services. His focus is data, analytics, AI and regulatory transformation. His conference biography says he has more than 20 years of experience and has led regulatory, AI and data programmes at Board level, including Brexit changes and GDPR.
Earlier in his career he held roles at Deloitte and EY. He then spent about 10 years at Barclays and Lloyds Bank, where he was Deputy Chief Data Officer. After that he was Managing Director and Head of the Data & Digital practice at Grant Thornton. He later became Group Chief Data Officer at Danske Bank. DLA Piper then appointed him Chief Data and AI Officer.
He chairs the financial services working group at UKAI, the UK trade association for the AI sector. He is an innovation expert at the University of Oxford and an Experts-in-Residence member at Imperial Enterprise Lab for AI. He has also been a mentor at Seedcamp and a resident expert at Oxford Foundry. He holds an MBA from Saïd Business School, Oxford.
Public information on his angel investing is limited. The one investment we could confirm is his participation in the Cigno seed round in 2026. Public profiles describe him mainly as an operator, board advisor and non-executive director for FinTech, RegTech and data companies. They also describe him as a senior advisor to private equity firms on due diligence and value creation. We found no public record of other angel investments, a fund, or a check size.
Cigno is the only AI investment we could confirm. Cigno is a Geneva-based startup building an AI infrastructure layer for management consulting. It closed a CHF 1.5M seed round that, according to finews, came exclusively from operators in consulting, finance and technology. Rajah was named in the investor group as a former Group CDO of Danske Bank. Other named backers include Lino Finini, Pasha Bakhtiar, Arnaud Denis, Hazem Mulhim and Martin Mende.
He has not published an investment thesis, stage preference or check size. His one confirmed investment is a seed round in an enterprise AI company that sells to financial services firms in Switzerland and Europe. His professional expertise is in financial services, RegTech, data and AI governance. Founders in those areas may find his background relevant, but this is not a stated investing rule.
- Cigno: Geneva-based AI infrastructure for management consulting, targeting financial services firms in Switzerland and Europe. Participated in the CHF 1.5M seed round, announced in 2026.
- finews.com/news/english-news/72238-cigno-artificial-intelligence-start
- thesaasnews.com/news/cigno-raises-1-5m-seed
- startupticker.ch/en/news/chf-1-5m-to-build-cigno-s-leading-ai-infrastr
- londontechweek.com/speakers/niresh-rajah
- informaconnect.com/sustainability-2100/speakers/niresh-rajah
- cdomagazine.tech/leadership-moves/dla-piper-appoints-niresh-rajah-as-c
- fintechfutures.com/job-cuts-new-hires/niresh-rajah-named-chair-of-ukai
- imperialenterpriselab.com/services/x-i-r
Investing activity
Niresh Rajah appears in 1 AI deal tracked by the Lounge deals desk. The rounds are mostly Seed, with a median round size of $2M. The most recent is Cigno (Seed, CHF1.5M, Jun 2026).
Niresh Rajah most often invests alongside Hazem Mulhim, Pasha Bakhtiar, Arnaud Denis and Lino Finini, and the companies they back on Lounge are mostly in AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Niresh Rajah
Who is Niresh Rajah?
He is a data and AI executive in financial services and professional services. He was Group Chief Data Officer at Danske Bank and then Chief Data and AI Officer at DLA Piper. He chairs UKAI's financial services working group.
Has Niresh Rajah invested in AI startups?
Yes. He took part in the CHF 1.5M seed round of Cigno, a Geneva-based AI infrastructure startup for management consulting. We found no other confirmed AI investments.
What check size does Niresh Rajah write?
He has not disclosed a check size publicly. Cigno's announcements also did not give individual amounts.
What stage and sectors does Niresh Rajah back?
He has not stated a formal thesis. His confirmed investment is a seed-stage enterprise AI company serving financial services. His professional background is in data, AI, RegTech and FinTech.
How can founders reach Niresh Rajah?
He has a public LinkedIn profile. We found no personal website or X account for him. A founder with a relevant fintech, RegTech or enterprise AI product could approach him there.
Does Niresh Rajah advise startups?
Yes. Public profiles say he has been a board advisor and non-executive director for FinTech and RegTech companies. He has also mentored at Seedcamp and served as an expert for Oxford and Imperial entrepreneurship programmes.
Is Niresh Rajah an angel investor?
Yes. Niresh Rajah invests personally as an angel.
What AI companies has Niresh Rajah invested in?
Niresh Rajah's AI investments include Cigno. The 1 round on Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
What stage does Niresh Rajah invest at?
In the rounds tracked on Lounge, Niresh Rajah has invested at Seed, with a median round of $2M.
Who does Niresh Rajah co-invest with?
Niresh Rajah's most frequent co-investors on Lounge are Hazem Mulhim (1 deal), Pasha Bakhtiar (1 deal), Arnaud Denis (1 deal) and Lino Finini (1 deal).