Fintech Start-up Razorpay Announces its First Acquisition Razorpay, a fintech company not new in the inner circles of the start-up world, recently announced its first acquisition with Gurgaon-based AI start-up Thirdwatch

The fintech market in India is accelerating and start-ups are on the receiving end when it comes to benefits. India is brimming with an underbanked and financially disempowered population and hence, it finds fintech or financial inclusion via technology a viable idea to bridge the gap.

From B2B to B2C, fintech is, perhaps, anywhere and everywhere. Razorpay is a reigning example of a start-up that has scaled monstrous growth in less time. The fintech platform announced its first acquisition with Gurgaon-based AI start-up Thirdwatch. This acquisition will help Razorpay make transactions more seamless and secure and systems more intelligent now with the backup of AI.

Excerpts from an interview with Harshil Mathur, CEO and Co-Founder, Razorpay in June.

Razorpay, a fintech company not new in the inner circles of the start-up world, recently raised $75Mn with Series-C Funding, which was co-led by Sequoia India and Ribbit Capital. Entrepreneur India interacts with Harshil Mathur, CEO and Co-Founder, Razorpay on the funding raised and the plan of action in the upcoming times.

Scaling Growth in the Indian Fintech Market

Razorpay, launched in 2014 and headquartered in Bangalore, is on a mission to solve the payment problems that the underserved markets like the MSMEs faced.

The funds raised will be utilised in developing new technologies. The fintech startup also plans to scale up its recently expanded product suite, Razorpay X, a neo-banking platform and lending arm Razorpay Capital.

He says, "We expect Razorpay X and Razorpay Capital along with the non-payment gateway suite to contribute to 40 per cent of our revenue by next year. We also aspire to double our team size to 700 and increase merchant count to 450,000 by 2020."

Since the beginning, IIT Alumnus Harshil Mathur, along with his co-founder Shashank Kumar, was very clear that they wanted to build something that will benefit the masses. So, they started to build a crowdfunding portal in 2013 and in the process realized the poor state of the online payments industry, especially for startups and SMEs.

That is how the fintech start-up came into existence. Mathur says, "Razorpay was founded in 2014, as a payment gateway to solving operational and technology integration problems around."

Since then, both the fintech industry and the startup has evolved much beyond everybody expectations. The industry has expanded from merely being a payments processor to creating impactful businesses while on the other side, the company has transitioned from being a single product company to a multi-product company.

Thinking and Innovation

Razorpay is covering a whole system and trying to solve financial issues-related to B2B businesses.

Mathur says, "Today, we are able to address the entire length and breadth of payment journey for the 350,000 businesses that we support. With the launch of Razorpay X, Razorpay Capital and Razorpay Flash Checkout, along with the existing Razorpay 2.0 product suite, we cover the entire financial ecosystem for the businesses."

So what makes this start-up a success story?

Mathur highlights some key aspects, "We believe that it is of supreme importance to recognise a market not being catered to, identify challenges and provide a wholesome solution. We expanded our products and moved from a single product to a multiple product company, and provide our partner businesses with the entire ecosystem - from banking to lending to payments - all under one roof."

Today, Razorpay is in happy in place as they have been able to influence the financial world and create a benchmark in the way financial technologies and open banking. This could not be achieved without an innovative mindset and hence, Mathur says, "that's why in a cluttered market, we are wired differently."