Apis invests $35m in India's Cashfree
Apis Partners has invested $35 million in Indian digital payments services provider Cashfree as part of a Series B round also featuring Smilegate Investment and Y Combinator.
The private equity firm is investing via its second emerging markets-focused financial services and technology fund, which closed last year at $563 million. The vehicle invests in a range of $30-50 million with a focus on capital-light business models in markets including South and Southeast Asia.
Cashfree is branded as one of India’s leading payment facilitators, with annual transaction volumes exceeding $12 billion across more than 100 channels including credit card, debit card, net banking, the government’s UPI payments system, and various wallets. There is a strong focus on enterprise services such as vendor payments, wage payments, bulk refunds, e-commerce refunds, insurance claims processing, loan disbursements, and loyalty and rewards.
The company, founded in 2015, claims to have been profitable since its first year of operations, with clients including Shell, Big Basket, HDFC, Xiaomi, Zomato, Medlife, and Delhivery. Recent product launches targeting merchants range from same-day settlement to cross-border payments to merchant lending.
The Series B will support the rollout of additional products including an instant settlement service that allows merchants to receive funds from online customer purchases immediately instead of the usual 1-2 day settlement cycle. The investment will also help the company make bolt-on acquisitions to further its geographic and product reach.
Operations are said to have accelerated during COVID-19 due to rising e-commerce penetration. The majority of new merchants signing up to the platform have been small to medium-sized enterprises experiencing greater pressure to digitize.
“As digital payments proliferate globally, the Indian market continues to represent one of the most exciting opportunities that we see in the world,” Udayan Goyal, a co-founder and managing partner at Apis, said in a statement. “Cashfree has maintained a leadership position in this space and is now going through a period of rapid growth fuelled by the development of unique and innovative products that serve the needs of its customers.”
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