Easebuzz raises $4 Mn in seed round; maintains profitability in FY20

Easebuzz, which offers APIs to companies for payments services, has raised $4 million or Rs 28.6 crore in its seed round led by 8i ventures, Varanium capital and Guild Capital. Former Citrus Pay founders Amrish Rau and Jitendra Gupta also participated in this round.

Easebuzz has approved the allotment of 5,662 preference shares at an issue price of Rs 50,871.58 per share to raise the sum, regulatory filings show. 

8i Ventures has led the round with Rs 9.85 crore whereas Guildcap India invested Rs 7.5 crore. Mumbai-based Varanium Capital invested Rs 7.3 crore in the round. Both Rau and Gupta invested Rs 1.75 crore each while Kochi Holdings invested Rs 45.3 lakh. 

The fresh funding will be used to strengthen the product team, enhance sales and marketing efforts and offer more payment-based APIs to small and mid-sized enterprises, said the company in a press statement.

Easebuzz is a B2B focused API driven platform where businesses can plug and play financial services by integrating a few lines of code in their own software. The company works with financial institutions, regulators, payment networks, banks, and consumer wallets.

As per Fintrackr’s estimates, the fundraise puts the company at a post-money valuation of $17 million or Rs 125 crore. 

Unlike most of the growth-stage companies, Easebuzz was profitable in the last two fiscals. In the fiscal year ending March 2020, the company reported operating revenue of Rs 9.5 crore, up 78% from FY19. During the fiscal, its expenses shot up 73.15% to Rs 8.9 crore as opposed to Rs 5.14 crore in FY19. 

Its profit in FY20 increased by 150% to Rs 4.7 lakh, compared to Rs 1.9 lakh in FY19. Easebuzz competes with Lightspeed-backed Setu and Empays Payment System among others.