Bengaluru-based Fampay Solutions Pvt. Ltd, which provides a payments service focused on teenagers, has raised $4.7 million (Rs 34.6 crore at current exchange rate) in seed funding from institutional and angel investors.
Institutional investors that took part in the round include Y Combinator, Venture Highway, Sequoia India, and Global Founders Capital, the startup said in a statement.
Angel backers in this seed round include Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin, Robinhood co-founder Vladimir Tenev, Cred founder Kunal Shah and Pine Labs chief executive Amrish Rau.
In September 2019, Entrackr had said that the startup is backed by Y Combinator and WeWork Labs and is in talks to raise funding from investors including Sequoia.
Fampay was founded last year by Kush Taneja and Sambhav Jain, alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee. Through its platform, teenagers and minors can conduct digital and card-based payments.
The startup will use the capital to invest in its technological infrastructure, as well as building out its engineering team to accelerate growth. “We believe that empowering teenagers with their own accounts can create a new network of users and open numerous opportunities in the market,” Jain said.
Venture Highway founding limited partner and adviser Neeraj Arora said Fampay and its founders were bringing a fresh and user-oriented approach to the market with their product. He added that the company’s platform would help teenagers learn and navigate aspects of personal finance.
The company has so far been operating in stealth mode. Customers will be issued cards – through a partnership with IDFC First Bank – without having to sign up for a bank account.
Apart from online and in-store purchases, these customers will also be able to send money to others through Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
Fampay is the latest fin-tech startup to begin operations in the country. Dozens of startups in the space have attracted capital from institutional, angel and strategic investors.
Earlier this month, Karbon Card raised $2 million (Rs 14.8 crore) in seed funding from investors including Kunal Shah, Amrish Rau and Jupiter founder Jitendra Gupta.
Last month, DotPe Pvt. Ltd raised $8 million (around Rs 56.8 crore) in its seed funding round led by payments company PayU and Chinese conglomerate Fosun International.
Other early-stage fintech startups that have raised capital in recent months include neo-banking startup EpiFi, informal sector-focused Kaleidofin, and digital banking firm Yelo.
