Fintech startup Cashfree raises seed funding from Y Combinator

Bengaluru-based payments platform Cashfree has got $120,000 in seed funding from US-based startup accelerator Y Combinator, after the startup was selected for its Summer 2017 batch.

The fintech firm plans to use the funding for product development, hiring more individuals, strengthening bank partnerships and marketing engagements.

The payment gateway, which automates inbound and outbound bank transfers, was founded in September 2015 by Akash Sinha and Reeju Datta and was bootstrapped for two years prior to being funded by Y Combinator.

"The products we have built is first of their kind and is helping businesses scale and innovate faster. We already are a profitable business and are looking to process Rs 200 crore of monthly payments by the end of the year," co-founder Akash Sinha said, reported TOI.

The startup, which claims to process more than Rs 50 crore of payments every month and has 1,100 merchants on its platform, works as a payment gateway that automates inbound and outbound bank transfers. The company is talking to investors to raise a larger round to scale its merchant acquisition and engineering teams.

The product is being used for automated payouts for crowd-funding, marketplace vendor settlements, payroll for on-demand economy workers, loan disbursal and repayment for lenders, modern ERP and accounting tools for invoice payments, and instant refunds via payment gateway versus 5-7 days presently.

In its two batches this year, the accelerator has on-boarded 18 startups in total. While it had 11 Indian startups in its 2017 winter batch, 7 startups made entry to its summer program, which includes Dharma Labs, Wheelstreet, NextDrop, CureSkin, Piggy, LotusPay and Cashfree.

According to the Y Combinator representative, India has seen maximum applications after the US. Recently, it also had announced that three of its partners, Gustaf Alströmer, Adora Cheung, and Anu Hariharan, will be visiting India this October. They will host talks and office hours and talks in Bangalore, Mumbai, and Delhi.

Cashfree: Website