CheqUPI raises $500K from Y Combinator Accelerator Program

CheqUPI, a unified payments interface (UPI) wallet designed for foreign nationals, has raised $500,000 in a pre-seed funding round led by Y Combinator Accelerator Program and also joined Y Combinator Accelerator Program for the summer 2023 batch.

Launched by Manish Kumar Shukla and Sudhanshu Shekhar in 2021, CheqUPI is a UPI wallet for foreign nationals. The app, developed in collaboration with Transcorp International Limited, allows users to add funds using any debit or credit card, enabling a cashless and hassle-free trip. The fintech startup has garnered popularity among tourists for its security measures, ensuring safe transactions and reducing the need for ATM visits and foreign exchange costs.

CheqUPI claims that it has serviced customers from 24 different nationalities mostly from the USA, Britain and Germany and aims to service more than 50,000 travellers in the ongoing fiscal year (FY24). Prior to this investment, Angellist was the sole investor in Cheq with a  3.86% stake in the company.

CheqUPI intends to leverage its expertise to develop fintech products on top of the UPI platform, catering to the needs of NRIs and tourists. Cheq’s UPI services are under a co-branded arrangement with Transcorp. However, the RBI asked to scrap all co-branded PPI arrangements on UPI. Entrackr wrote about this issue in July.