Twid Raises $12 Mn in Series A Funding To Scale Its Merchant & Issuer Network In India The newly raised funds will be used for scaling and building Twid's merchant and issuer network, expanding product roll-outs, building tech capabilities primarily in data science and hiring
By Soumya Duggal •
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Twid, a reward point-based payment solutions platform, has closed Series-A funding of $12 million led by Rakuten Capital. The round also saw participation from Google, ICMG Partners, JAFCO Asia, January Capital and Reddy Futures Fund, with existing investors BEENEXT and Sequoia India's Surge also participating.
The newly raised funds will be used for scaling and building Twid's merchant and issuer network, expanding product roll-outs, building tech capabilities primarily in data science and hiring, said a statement.
With the latest funding round, Sunil Gopinath, CEO of Rakuten India, will join the Twid board of directors on behalf of Rakuten Capital, Rakuten Group's corporate venture capital arm.
Founded in 2020 by Amit Koshal, Rishi Batra, and Amit Sharma, Twid is a network effect platform that combines multiple loyalty/reward points across issuers such as banks, fintech firms, and retail/e-commerce brands. It allows consumers to pay at offline and online stores with a 'one-click-checkout' experience using their reward points. Once on a merchant's check out page or at a store, customers will have the option to 'pay with rewards' and have the flexibility to choose which loyalty programme they'd like to redeem their points for their purchase, according to the company.
Further, they will be able to use a combination of points and digital currency, such as their credit card, netbanking, or UPI, to complete their purchase. It connects reward point issuers with large merchant networks to enable redeeming points as a form of payment. The company claims to work with renowned partners such as JioMart, NetMeds, Yatra, Gaana, Wakefit, ConfirmTKT, Ixigo, PAYBACK, InterMiles, IndusInd Bank, large commerce program, PayU, Juspay and many more.
"Twid is on a mission to revolutionize how rewards are viewed, understood, and used across platforms by creating a completely new network. We are bringing together various industry stakeholders nudging them towards a cashless ecosystem and future...This reaffirms our approach to delivering long term value to merchants, issuers and customers. We are happy to have mission-aligned investors who are also helping us with global expertise in technology. This investment will accelerate our next phase of growth, further strengthening our innovations, product and offerings," said Amit Koshal, founder and CEO, Twid.
"Rakuten Capital sees tremendous potential and future synergies in this investment. Given our global membership products are developed here in Bengaluru by Rakuten India, I'm thrilled to join the Twid board of directors and look forward to working with Amit Koshal, Rishi Batra, Amit Sharma and their very capable team to transform the way reward points are viewed and used in India," said Sunil Gopinath, CEO, Rakuten India.
