BharatPe is a New Delhi-based firm. The firm enables hundreds of thousands of merchants to start accepting digital payments for the first time. Besides, it is also giving them access to working capital. BharatPe raises $50 million as it looks to scale its business in the nation.
With the new funding, the firm is pushed all-time raise to $65 million. Besides, two technology giants, Google and Amazon, were also in advanced stages of talks to fund BharatPe’s Series B financing round.
BharatPe
BharatPe operates an eponymous service. It service helps offline merchants accept digital payments.
India has already emerged as the second-largest internet market, with more than 500 million users, but much of the country remains offline. Merchants from small businesses are among those outside of the reach of the internet.
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BharatPe relies on QR codes built as part of government-backed UPI payments infrastructure. Consequently, the merchants comfortable in accepting digital payments.
Besides, through BharatPe, these merchants also get access to a simplified dashboard on their phones. By that feature, the merchant can track the customers who owe them money and get periodic reminders.
The firm has gathered more than 1.5 million merchants on its platform. It processes more than 21 million transactions a month, worth more than $83 million.
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BharatPe also allows merchants to secure short-term loans. New merchants can secure about $500 for a period of three months from BharatPe. As merchants spend more time on BharatPe, the firm increases the amount to about $2,000.
The lending business is crucial to BharatPe. Payment apps make little to no money through making transactions on their platforms. Moreover, those processing UPI payments cannot even charge a small commission to merchants.
BharatPe aims to use the fund to add about 3.5 million merchants in the next 12 months. The firm has more than 2,000 salespeople who are adding 400,000 new merchants to BharatPe each month.
