Funding of ePayLater announced. First of all, we all know that COVID 19 had a very negative impact on the businesses and the economy on the whole. The national lockdown had forced all the offices to shut and operate on the online mode.
Some important insights came out during the COVID 19 lockdown- First being that life is unpredictable, you never know what will happen, when. So to operate safely and securely in a post-covid world, a business needs to have technological platform. If a company cannot operate using technology, it would be very difficult to manage and continue working in this VUCA world.
The other insight which has been learnt is that there are two fields which are rising rapidly- edtech and fintech. The startups belonging to these two sectors have gained a lot of popularity and majority of the startups which have received funding in the past year belong to these two sectors.
We are here to talk about the funding of a fintech startup which has taken place recently. The startup, ePayLater, raised USD 10 million in a round of funding, as announced on September 20,2021. The investors who have helped the firm in raising these funds are- Responsibility Investments AG, which is a Zurich-based investment firm, Blue Ashva Capital, Pravega Ventures, and many others.
The funds raised by the startup will be used in expansion of the presence of the startup across more retailers and expand and enhance the products offered by the startup. Prior to this round of funding, the startup in February 2021, had raised INR 18 crore in a round of funding which was led by Pravega Ventures and other internal investors.
The existing investors of the startup are- Pravega Ventures, ICICI Bank, Blue Ashva Capital,and GMO Global Fintech Fund, a Japan based investment company.
About the newly funded startup ePayLater
Founded in 2015 by Aurko Bhattacharya, Uday Somayajula, and Akshat Saxena, ePayLater is a digital payments solutions provider to retailers across physical and digital sales as well as small businesses to purchase inventory across various product categories.
The platform of the startup allows small business to avail 14-day interest free credit to obtain inventory from sales. The startup helps business in growing at a zero cost, and get credit upto 25 lakhs at 0% interest.
The application and the website of the startup explains how to get started with ePayLater-
Step1- Sign up by downloading ePayLater Business
Step2- Shop at your favourite portal or ask the sales executive that you want to shop using ePayLater
Step3- Enjoy credit at zero cost for 14 days
The benefits and advantages of using ePayLater are-
Get Instant Credit to help all the businesses needs and the rest will be handled by the startup
Pan India Credit Network to be used on any of ther merchants and get the freedom to choose any of the products at the best price. Local distributor can also be onboarded
Increase profitability to choose the best products across different categories and locations, and manage the transactions. The platform of the startup is available across all the channels, both physical and digital
Secure, thus ePayLater maintains the highest level of security, thus making sure that all the information will be secured by the startup
ePayLater also issues ePayLater Digital Card, which helps the customers in getting instant credit for the shopping needs.
The startup specialises as a pay later firm for small businesses and provides zero-cost credit to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) across the country. The claims have been made by the startup that it has disbursed more than Rs 1,000 crore in facilitating inventory purchases.
Since 2015, the startup has been pursuing a vision that is always about pursuing a vision that is always putting their customers and partners first.
The startup measures its success through the success of the partners and the customers. The startup is engaged in helping the customers and the partners, achieving the best of them by helping them discover their potential.
The startup claims that there are four reasons which make it different. The reasons are-
Direct impact on community– The startup aims to empower people by making credit inclusive, digital, and accessible. The startup is engaged in leading with solutions to change the society for the better.
Growth– The startup says that it has a small but ambitious team.The team is to learn, thrive, and grow. They are all together in building a product and learning along the way.
Open Culture– The startup has the open culture, where flexible working hours and reaching out to across teams with open minds are encouraged. It understands that sometimes employees need an open time, so one can work from anywhere, even a coffee shop.
World Class Management Team– The management team of the startup has more than 50 years of experience. The employees are encouraged to interact with them on day-to-day basis and learn from their experience.
According to the startup, the benefits of using ePayLater are-
Mobile First– Everything can be done through mobile phones
Ease of Onboarding– Downloading and signing up the application can take less than 5 minutes
Increasing Purchasing Power– The limits of credit are from INR 25K to INR 25 lakhs
Delightful user experience– The startup has the direct integration with large merchants, thus enabling one click checkouts.
Simple and Transparent Pricing– It has a simple and transaprent pricing policy, that if the credit is paid within 14 days, then 0% interest is charged.
Omni-channel– The application can be used on physical channel, web, and mobile
Access to wide assortment– The startup is in partnership with large merchants, thus because of this, there are wide range of products available.
Hasslefree payment and Reconciliation– The startup ensures such a smooth process that there is no need to maintain ledgers for returns/cancellations.
About the founders of the startup
Aurko Bhattacharya, is the co-founder of ePayLater. He is an alumnus from Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, with graduation in Btech and an MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta.
He has been a banker dealing with structured investments across equity, interest rates, and foreign exchange. He has 12 years of professional experience in big companies like ICICI Bank and Barclays.
Akshat Saxena, is the co-founder of ePayLater. He is a Btech graduate from DA-IICT Gandhinagar, and an MBA from Management Development Institute, Gurgaon (MDI).
He has a cross-sectional experience of working in Retail and Credit Tech. He has 10 years of professional experience, in which he has worked extensively in the BFSI, credit and payment space, and has been involved in solving business problems with technology and data solutions. Before ePayLater, he has worked with majors like Oracle, IBM, SAP, and TransUnion. He is a visiting faculty at IIM Sambalpur, and has been a Business World 40 under 40 awardee.
Uday Somayajula, is the co-founder of ePayLater. He is a Btech graduate from JNTU Hyderabad, and an MBA from Management Development Insritite, Gurgaon(MDI). He has the experience in multiple areas of banking, capital markets, and risk consulting. He has 10 years of professional experience, in which he has worked in majors like ICICI Bank and Accenture Management Consulting.
About Fintech Industry
The fintech industry is growing at a rapid rate in India, with the country having the highest Fintech adoption rate globally. More than 2100 fintech startups are there in India, and more than 67% have come into existence in the last 5 years. The current value of the Indian Fintech market is USD 31 billion and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 22% with value in 2025 to be USD 84 billion.
The Indian Fintech industry has seen variety of subsegments like- Payments, Lending, Wealth Technology, Personal Finance Management, Insurance Technology, Regulation Technology, and many more. The industry has witnesses cumulative investments into domestic Fintechs of more than USD 10 billion since 2016. As of May 2021, the United Payment Interface (UPI) of India, has seen a participation of 224 banks and recorded 2.6 billion transactions worth USD 68 billion, thus showing a 15 times growth from just 3 years ago for the same period in 2018.
The major investors in this sector are- SoftBank, Berkshire Hathaway, VISA, PayPal, Temasek Holdings, MasterCard, Revolut, Naspers, and Tide.
The startup is gaining recognition and popularity and we wish it a bright and a successful future.
Edited by Sanjana Simlai.
