Financial-technology firm Cashfree, which focusses on online payments by Indian businesses, has raised $35 million (approximately Rs 258.87 crore at current exchange rates) in a Series B fundraising round.
The round in Bengaluru-based Cashfree has been led by Apis Growth Fund II, managed by Apis Partners LLP, which makes private equity investments across growth-stage financial services and infrastructure businesses.
Limited partners in the fund include institutional investors, developmental and multilateral financial institutions, global banks, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, and family offices.
Portfolio companies for Apis Partners include Star Health & Allied Insurance Co Ltd and non-banking financial company Hero FinCorp. As part of its investment in Cashfree, Apis co-founder and managing partner Udayan Goyal will join the company as a member of its board of directors.
Other participants in this Series B round for the Cashfree Payments India Pvt Ltd-operated startup include existing investor Y Combinator. This fundraise comes a month after reports said that the company was in advanced talks to raise up to $25 million (around Rs 184 crore) from new and existing investors.
Cashfree was set up by Akash Sinha and Reeju Datta in 2015 and operates lines of businesses including a payments gateway and Payouts, a bulk disbursal solution that helps companies instantly send money to bank accounts, cards, and UPI accounts.
The company will use this Series B capital for supporting its growth plans including the development and launch of new products.
“We still see payments as an evolving industry with its own challenges and we would be investing in next-gen payments as well as banking tech to make payments processing easier and more reliable,” Sinha, who is also the company’s chief executive officer, said.
“We trust that our investment will further accelerate Cashfree’s growth trajectory and we are excited and proud to partner with the team,” Apis co-founder and managing partner Matteo Stefanel added.
In April last year, Cashfree raised $5.5 million (around Rs 38 crore) as part of its Series A round. That exercise was led by South Korean firm Smilegate Investment, with participation from Y Combinator, former British chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne, and former Cholamandalam Investment managing director Vellayan Subbaiah.
According to VCCEdge, the data research arm of Mosaic Digital, Cashfree recorded net sales of Rs 27.76 crore for the 2018-19 financial year, with net profit of Rs 4.07 crore. It counts among clients firms such as Zomato, HDFC Ergo, Ixigo, Zomato, and Zoomcar.
