India Corridor-focussed PaymentTech Startup Xflow Raises $10.2 Mn from Australia's Square Peg Capital

Bengaluru-based XFlow, a technology infrastructure company that simplifies the cross-border payments for businesses, has raised a US$10.2 million Pre-Series A funding round led by Australia based Square Peg Capital.

Moore Strategic Ventures also participated in the round along with the startup's existing investors, Lightspeed and General Catalyst.

XFlow earlier araised $6 million in a seed funding round led by Lightspeed, Stripe, and General Catalyst.

The fresh funds raised will be deployed towards expanding the product capabilities to support more currencies and local payment methods as well as growing business in India.

Founded in 2021 by Anand Balaji and Ashwin Bhatnagar, XFlow is built primarily for the developer and is an easy to embed payments infrastructure and a self-serve product. XFlow is building a full-stack platform to simplify cross-border payments - starting with a focus on cross-border payments in India. While payments within India are supported through the UPI infrastructure built by the government, sending money to, and receiving money from, countries outside India, is currently an unsolved and acute problem for local merchants and freelancers. 

Prior to starting up with XFlow, both the founders were working in global fintech firm Stripe and together they helped build and expand Stripe in India.

XFlow is solving problems that global companies like PayPal, Wise and Stripe have all previously made various attempts to solve, and that is managing cross border payments which faces issues like —reconciliation challenges, rate efficiency issues, processes for claiming tax advantages, and other compliance requirements.  

XFlow has deep expertise in the India corridor, and with its APIs businesses can compliantly receive $100 or $1 million in a single transaction. Xflow partner with RBI-authorised banks to make international money movement safe and compliant, and FIRA (Foreign Inward Remittance Advice) for payouts.

Phi Commerce Raises 4 Million USD in Series A Funding From Singapore Based BEENEXT

• PayPhi, Phi Commerce’s API-first digital payments platform, is currently powering over 100 million transactions per month
• Phi Commerce to use funds for product innovation and expansion in new geographies 

Omni channel digital payments company, Phi Commerce today announced that it has raised USD 4 million in series A, led by BEENEXT, a Singapore based Venture capital firm. The fresh round will be utilised to bolster its product offering, expand in existing markets and enter new geographies.

Founded in 2015, Phi Commerce has established itself as a strong contender in the digital payments market across Tier 1 cities in India and has led the digital payments revolution into the underserved tier 2 and 3 markets as well, powering more than 100 million monthly transactions. With its API-first digital payments platform for payment schemes, banks, processors and large, medium and small businesses alike, PayPhi from Phi Commerce, provides frictionless payments experience by integrating all consumer touch points online, mobile, in-store, or doorstep and payment modes on a singular platform.

Commenting on the announcement, Jose Thattil, CEO and Co-Founder, Phi Commerce said; “Today, consumers and businesses globally are demanding that payment transactions be truly seamless, almost bordering on being invisible. We are proud that within a short span of time, PayPhi, with its revolutionary API-first architecture, has successfully proven its capability to meet hitherto unaddressed requirements at scale across online, in-store and door-step commerce. The need to eliminate friction in payments with 100% reliability is a universal requirement across advanced as well as emerging economies and we are confident we will soon be replicating this success in global markets.”

BEENEXT has maintained a stellar track record of identifying high performance fintechs that have, over a period of time, scaled up exponentially.

Commenting on the investment announcement, Hero Choudhary, partner at BEENEXT, said that; “India is probably the most complex payment market in the world with all sorts of payment form factors. The Phi Commerce team has built a remarkable product covering end to end omni-channel payments at scale. Their technology solution is scalable across the globe and we are proud to partner with the Phi team in their journey.”

The round also sees participation from Yatra Angel Network (YAN) managed by Abhishant Pant, a veteran in the Indian fintech space.

“We have seen Phi Commerce’s journey from the day they got associated with us in the Mumbai Fintech Accelerator. They truly represent an Enterprise payment powerhouse from India with solutions having application across global markets,” said Abhishant Pant.

Phi Commerce distinguishes itself by straddling payment facilitation for merchants and businesses and being an enterprise platform provider to payment schemes, banks and processors. It aids merchants and businesses in managing payments across the life cycle of invoicing, collection & distribution in an integrated manner and helps payment schemes, banks and processors overcome challenges of legacy platforms by providing a modern omni channel payment platform. PayPhi has gained widespread acceptance in the Indian market. Its solutions ranging from digital payments at the doorstep to single click 100% automated subscription payments and fully digitized high value B2B payments are transforming the way businesses empower their consumers for seamless commerce.

The award-winning platform’s API-first architecture enables digitization and automation for most back-end processes including reconciliations, accounting, last mile notifications and settlements, unleashing the true benefits of digital payments and minimizing operational complexity. The platform is the winner of MeitY DigiDhan Mission Fintech Award and has won the coveted Visa Everywhere Initiative (VEI) India 2020 for its one-of-a-kind Instalments/Buy Now, Pay Later program.

Digital Payment Platform YPay Secures Seed Investment by Venture Catalysts

YPay, a digital payment platform, secures an undisclosed seed investment by Venture Catalysts

YPay has launched India's first smartcard for students which can be used for any digital transaction in a controlled environment like a school premise

Mumbai, 23rd December, 2020: Venture Catalysts, India's first and largest integrated incubator and accelerator, has recently invested an undisclosed amount in YPay, a digital payment platform for young kids and teen students in Tier 3 and below cities. 

Founded by Dr. Navneet Gupta, the start-up is a digital payment platform that enables young teen students to gain financial literacy, learn as well as manage their personal spending. The app also empowers the whole family to monitor and assist their children's development as they learn about money management in a controlled manner and safe environment. Through its unique SmartCard, YPay helps students adopt and conveniently manage digital payment for all purchases like books, stationeries, canteen, school fee etc. This is done in a controlled environment by focusing on merchants who are mostly approached by the student demographic like the inside of schools and any hyperlocal market around schools. In the process, YPay aims to help hyperlocal businesses generate more revenue while providing kids with a real-world lesson in financial responsibility.

Speaking on the investment, Dr. Navneet Gupta – Founder at YPay, said, "This is the first time we are raising funds and we are very thankful to Dr Apoorva Ranjan from Venture Catalyst and Mr NeerajTyagi from We Founders Circle for showing trust in us and investing in YPAY. We will be utilising these funds for technology, partnership, and expansion in 25 more cities."

Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Co-founder & President – Venture Catalysts, added, "Digital payment has become the heart and soul of our country's economy. So it only makes sense that children should be given financial literacy from a young age to make them understand the value of money and how to manage their finances. On the back of its unique IP, YPay is equipped to disrupt the USD 60 billion Indian school education market. It aims to allow students to digitally manage all school-premise transactions through its innovative smart card. Dr. Gupta is backed by a founding team with strong domain experiences and allied skill sets which, if harnessed effectively, can catapult the start-up to success in no time. The team has our full support as they set out on this new venture."


To keep the whole process even more secure and safe, the app allows parents the option to set their kids' daily spending limit, manage their allowances, block/unblock the card and choose the exact stores where they can spend the money. For every transaction/purchase made, parents receive notifications that keeps them informed about the spending.

About Venture Catalysts

Venture Catalysts is India's first integrated incubator. It invests $250K – $1.5 Million in early stage start-ups that have potential to create enduring value for over a long period of time. Over the last few years, it has been instrumental in developing and nurturing the country's vibrant startup ecosystem with a strong presence in Tier 2& 3 markets. Venture Catalysts brings a lethal combination of Capital, Mentoring and Business Network to help investee companies to succeed. Their innovation provides value to start-ups through its extensive angel network, funding, community, services and co-working facility. Venture Catalysts is focussed on providing startups with access to continuous capital from fund, investor network, Tier 1 founders & CXOs, and family offices besides providing them with market access from corporates and global growth programs.