Ex- Google Pay Execs' Startup Epifi Raises $13.2 Mn in Seed Funding led by Sequoia India, Ribbit Capital

Bengaluru-based neo-banking startup Epifi on Monday said it has raised USD 13.2 million (around Rs 93.4 crore) in a seed funding round led by Sequoia India and Ribbit Capital.

The company said it will utilise the funds to build its core technology platform, drive sales as well as marketing initiatives and expand its technology team.

The seed funding round that was led by Sequoia India and Ribbit Capital also saw participation from Hillhouse Capital and angel investors, including David Velez, the founder of Nubank, and Kunal Shah, Founder and CEO, CRED, the statement said.

Seed money, sometimes known as seed funding or seed capital, is a form of securities offering in which an investor invests capital in a startup company in exchange for an equity stake or convertible note stake in the company.

Founded in May last year by Google Pay top executives Sujith Narayanan and Sumit Gwalani, Epifi is a fintech startup that provides digital banking solutions.

"Millennials are a digital-first generation who are reshaping the world's economy, pushing companies to re-examine the way they do business.... Through epiFi, our mission is to provide digital natives a new-age platform that uses customer insights and deep tech to simplify their banking journey and help them take a big step towards achieving financial freedom," Epifi Co-foundersaid Sujith Narayanan said. PTI SID

Fintech Startup Khatabook to Raise $20 Mn in Funding from DST Partners, Ribbit Capital and Sequoia

Mumbai-based Kyte Technologies, which owns and operates digital accounts ledger app KhataBook, is set to raise $20-$25 million (Rs 138-Rs 172 crore) in series-A financing round, which will lead by DST Partners, a personal investing vehicle for the partners at Israeli-Russian billionaire Yuri Milner's DST Global.

Ribbit Capital, Sequoia Capital and a couple of Chinese funds will also contribute to the round, reported Times of India.

Besides, more than 20 angel investors including prominent investor Gokul Rajaram, Jitendra Gupta, the founder of Citrus Pay, and Kunal Shah, CEO of Cred, are also likely to participate in the round, said the report.

Expected to be finalised in the coming weeks, the Khatabook funding would be one of the largest series-A funding rounds for a homegrown startup this year.

Founded in 2018, by IIT-Bombay alumni Ravish Naresh, Jaideep Poonia, Dhanesh Kumar and Ashish Sonone, Khatabook replaces traditional udhaar bahi-khata (accounts book/ledger) by its digital app, which shop owners can use to record credit and debit transactions for their trusted customers and can maintain their customers'​ accounts securely. The app is claimed to be free and comes with features such as SMS updates to customers on every transaction, Automatic Backup, WhtasApp payment reminder to customers and download of customers' PDF Report among others.

While Ravish was one of the Co-founders and COO at Housing.com, a property listing websites. Jaideep Poonia, Dhanesh Kumar and Ashish Sonone, were co-founders of Knit Messenger, a messaging application that made it easy for teachers to connect with parents and students.

Part of Y Combinator and Sequoia Capital's Surge, Khatabook has so far raised just over $3 million from Y Combinator, Sequoia and InfoEdge, the parent of naukri.com and 99acres.com. The startup also counts Citrus Pay founders - Amrish Rau and Jitendra Gupta, and Square's Gokul Rajaram as its angel investors.

Khatabook services SMBs that operate in both metropolitan and non-metropolitan cities and is available in a wide variety of Indian languages, including the popular Hinglish dialect. The app recently crossed 120,000+ weekly active merchants and is growing at 40% MoM.

Razorpay Raises Fresh $75 Mn from Ribbit Capital, Sequoia Capital and Others

Bangalore-based payments solution startup Razorpay has raiaed fresh US$75 million in Series C funding round of financing led by Ribbit Capital, a Palo Alto-based venture capital firm that invests globally in ventures working in financial services, along with contribution from Sequoia Capital.

Existing investors Tiger Global Management and Y Combinator’s Continuity Fund also participated in the funding round, reported Economic Times, citing Harshil Mathur, chief executive of Razorpay.

Razorpay plans to use the fresh capital in strengthening its two new business lines - neo-banking platform Razorpay X and its lending arm Razorpay Credit.

With latest funding, the 5-year-old startup is valued at about $450 million, said the report. The xact figure of valuation however is not officially acknowledged by the company.

In March, www.indianweb2.com first reported that Razorpay is in advanced discussions with Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm Sequoia Capital to raise $75-100 million in new funding.

Razorpay, which also counts Matrix Partners, MasterCard and a host of angel investors, among its list of backers, has raised a total of about $106 Mn to date, according to www.indianweb2.com estimates. Prior to this latest funding, Razorpay last raised funds of $20 million in January, 2018, which was from Y Combinator, Tiger Global and Matrix Partners.

Founded in 2013, by Harshil Mathur and Shashank Kumar, Razorpay is the only payments solution in India which allows businesses to accept, process and disburse payments with its range of product suite. The startup provides access to all payment modes including credit card, debit card, netbanking, UPI and popular wallets including JioMoney, Mobikwik, Airtel Money, FreeCharge, Ola Money and PayZapp.

In January, Rajorpay launched two new verticals - Razorpay X and Razorpay Capital.

Razorpay Capital is lending arm through which the company help businesses on its platform get loans from its partner lenders based on the customer’s transaction pattern and history.

Razorpay X, on other hand, is essentially an AI-driven digital bank account where businesses can own and operate their account. It is a back-end platform, where it allows businesses to manage their entire current account through Razorpay. It is essentially a digital bank account where businesses can own and operate their account.