BharatPe, a cross-platform QR-Code based payments app, has announced raising of a fresh $50 Million round. The current round was led by US-based financial technology-focused investor Ribbit Capital. Hong Kong-based hedge fund Steadview Capital has also joined as a new investor in the payments startup. According to an ET report, the valuation for BharatPe will now stand at $225Mn post this round.
In terms of usage, the consumer app is pretty straight forward to use. You simply download the app, link your bank account via UPI (since this functions over Indian Government’s UPI platform) and you are good to go. In terms of advantage over other apps, BharatPe allows you to scan QR code of any of those plethora of payment apps that are out there in the market.
On the merchants end though, is where BharatPe scores well and is looking to bank upon. The app allows merchants to accept UPI payments for ‘FREE’ through the BharatPe QR. Merchants can sign up instantly and start receiving the funds immediately in their bank account.
The company claims that it is not essentially an aggregator or payment gateway in the traditional sense. It says that it works closely with partner banks to develop custom APIs to enable an extremely simple product for the merchants. BharatPe’s QR technology and deep integration at the bank end is what is described by the company as its “secret sauce”.
BharatPe’s cofounder and CEO Ashneer Grover told TOI the company’s existing investors Sequoia Capital, Beenext Capital and Insight Partners have also participated in this financing round, which follows its series-A funding of $15 million (Rs 107 crore) in April.
While the company was in talks with the investors to raise about $75 million, it has closed the series-B funding at $50 million so that founders do not have to dilute additional stake at this stage, Grover said.
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