Mobile payments solution Ezetap raises $8 million in Helion-led Series B round
Ezetap, a Bangalore based mobile payments solutions has received funding of $8 million from a consortium of investors led by Helion Venture Partners. Founded by Abhijit Bose, Ezetap was initially funded by AngelPrime and then went on to raise a series A from Social+Capital Partnership, Peterl Theil and others. Ezetap has raised INR 74 crores till date.
The Ezetap device is priced at around INR 3,000 consists of a light-weight card reader that can be plugged into any smart device or feature phone used by a retailer. The technology allows anyone to accept cards. We had initially reported EzeTap securing the EMV level 1 certification and players like BigBasket who have started to use the service. At present nearly 12,000 Ezetap devices are being used across South East Asia and Africa. Bose said the latest round of funding will be used to increase growth in these markets and take the total number of devices over 100,000 by next year.
“There is an enormous need to provide electronic payments across emerging markets,” said Abhijit Bose, CEO, Ezetap. “We have built a successful model based on world-class technology, scalable distribution through a combination of partnerships and our own direct sales force, and a cost structure that works in these countries. Our focus is to scale this model and become the leader for electronic payments across emerging markets.”
US based Square is the biggest player in the field and closer back home, Ezetap faces competition from players like Mswipe that is backed by Matrix Partners and Aasaanpay (formerly MobileCozy). Speaking on the investment, Ashish Gupta said “Helion believes that Ezetap is best poised to lead mobile payments, given the massive change in paradigms of electronic payments, especially in emerging markets. The investment also ties in with Helion’s game plan to invest in companies creating technologies to address global market opportunities.”
The rise of mobile has opened up an entirely new industry and enablers like Ezetap will play a big role in the space. Follow YourStory's MobileSparks to stay updated on all the happenings in the mobile space.