Juspay poised to become 2025's first unicorn with $150M funding
What's the story
Juspay, a leading fintech infrastructure company, is set to become the first unicorn of 2025.
The company is in the process of raising $150 million in its latest round of funding.
The round, led by Kedaara Capital, also sees participation from WestBridge and SoftBank.
"Unicorn" is a term used for startups valued at over $1 billion, a milestone Juspay is poised to hit with this fundraising.
Market position
Juspay's journey in the competitive payment sector
Juspay's fundraising effort comes at a time when competition in the payment space is heating up.
Several payment gateways, including Phone, Razorpay, and Cashfree, recently cut ties with the Payment Orchestration Platform.
Despite the challenges, Juspay has remained a leading provider of payment orchestration software since its founding in 2012 by Vimal Kumar and Sheetal Lalwani.
Industry impact
Juspay's significant role in India's digital payment landscape
Juspay has been instrumental in defining India's digital payment ecosystem. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) called in Juspay's expertise to build its Unified Payments Interface (UPI) app, BHIM.
The company's OTP read software has transformed the checkout experience on mobile apps for e-commerce platforms. And today, it still works with many UPI apps, handling an important part of their payment orchestration.
Financial growth
Juspay's financial performance and regulatory approval
Juspay has shown strong financial growth with its operating revenue seeing a nearly 50% jump in the fiscal year ending March 2024.
The company posted a revenue of ₹319.32 crore for FY24, up from ₹213.39 crore in FY23, marking a growth of 49.6%.
Along with this impressive revenue growth, Juspay also managed to cut down its losses by 10% during the period.
Investment history
RBI authorization and previous funding rounds
In February 2024, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) authorized Juspay to operate as a payment aggregator (PA). This regulatory approval further cemented the company's position in the fintech industry.
Before the current round of fundraising, Juspay had raised $60 million in a Series C funding round in 2021. It was led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 with participation from existing investors VEF and Wellington Management.