Razorpay acquires majority stake in POP with $30 Mn investment

Rewards-first UPI payments app POP has raised $30 million from Razorpay to grow its payments and commerce platform. With this, Razorpay has acquired a majority stake in the Bengaluru-based startup.

While POP did not share further transaction details, it will operate as a separate entity. 

Earlier in June last year, POP had raised $2.4 million in its seed funding round led by India Quotient and a few prominent angel investors. The fresh proceeds will be used to improve its products, grow its merchant base, and enhance its rewards program.

POP started its UPI platform in June 2024. It claims to have crossed 6 lakh daily transactions and 1 million unique monthly transactions within the first year. According to the company, it fulfilled 2 lakh orders and issued over 40,000 RuPay credit cards in collaboration with Yes Bank. 

POP’s main feature is POPcoins, a multi-brand rewards currency that consumers earn when making payments or shopping on the platform. These POPcoins can be redeemed across POP’s extensive merchant network, offering users flexible and valuable incentives.

Razorpay’s investment in POP expands its services into loyalty, engagement, and commerce. POP’s payments and rewards ecosystem lets merchants reward transactions and payments directly.

Previously in September 2022, Razorpay acquired PoshVine to add loyalty and rewards to its payments stack. POP will help Razorpay serve merchants by offering payments, loyalty, and engagement services in a single platform. 

This also marks Razorpay's entry into the consumer UPI space. Last year, another fintech unicorn, BharatPe, announced its foray into consumer payments with the rebranding of the PostPe app.

The development follows Razorpay’s recent announcement to shift its domicile back to India from the US. While the company has no immediate plans for a public listing, it has completed key regulatory steps, including its transition into a public limited company and securing approval for the merger of Razorpay Inc. with Razorpay India. 

Razorpay stands out as one of the few profitable unicorns in the fintech space, having reported revenue of Rs 2,068 crore and a profit of Rs 35 crore in FY24. The company is yet to announce its FY25 results.