Payments Gateway Razorpay Rolls Out Investment Programme with Peak XV, Lightspeed, To Invest in Early Stage Startups

Neha KamathNovember 13, 2024

Post Views: 1,658

Three points you will get to know in this article:

Razorpay seeks to invest up to $1 million in 10-15 early-stage B2B startups every year, with
Razorpay, Peak XV, and Lightspeed will act as equal investment partners.
Selected startups will get access to Razorpay’s tech stack, sandbox environments, and integration support with its tech.

Razorpay Aims B2B Startup Investments, Partners With VC Firms Peak XV Partners And Lightspeed

Razorpay, the payments behemoth, has collaborated with venture capital firms Peak XV Partners and Lightspeed to develop a venture investment program aimed at early-stage B2B entrepreneurs in industries such as fintech, ecommerce, retail, healthcare, and logistics.

Razorpay was founded in 2014 by Shashank Kumar and Mathur and has now expanded into an omnichannel payments and banking platform. It has raised approximately $740 million in capital from investors including GIC, Tiger Global, and Lightspeed Ventures.

The Bengaluru-based fintech unicorn’s ‘Razorpay Venture Investment Program’ seeks to invest up to $1 million in 10-15 pre-seed to Series A firms per year.

“Creating a startup, especially in the B2B arena, is a challenging task. Harshil Mathur, cofounder and CEO of Razorpay, stated, “Having experienced it firsthand and seen founders across industries face this on a daily basis, we believe the support system must go beyond just capital.”

More Details of Razorpay’s Venture Investment Programme

Peak XV Partners and Lightspeed will be equal investment partners in the project, according to Mathur, who also stated that they will co-invest with Razorpay in the shortlisted firms.

The programme will be led by Vishnu Acharya, Razorpay’s head of strategy and corporate development.

Aside from cash, the chosen firms will have access to Razorpay’s API stack, sandbox environments, and integration support with the company’s technical infrastructure. The initiative also offers one-on-one mentoring from Razorpay’s leadership team, as well as access to the Rize network of over 3,000 creators.

Razorpay’s Financials, Investments

Razorpay reported a 365% increase in earnings to INR 33.5 crore in FY24 from INR 7.2 crore the prior year. Operating revenue increased 9% year on year to INR 2,475 crore, with payment aggregation services accounting for 83%.

Razorpay has previously backed businesses including Shiprocket, HostBooks, Inai, and GetVantage.