Razorpay goes to Malaysia; acquires majority stake in recurring payments platform Curlec

Bengaluru-based fintech startup Razorpay on Tuesday said it has acquired a majority stake in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-based Curlec, a fintech startup that enables B2B recurring payments, valuing it between $19 million and $20 million.

The acquisition marks Razorpay's first expansion and deal outside of India, and will enable it to extend its products and services to businesses in Malaysia.

Founded in 2018 by Zac Liew and Steve Kucia, Curlec helps businesses set up recurring payments to and from vendors and other businesses and payouts to employees, contractors, etc. The startup's clients include businesses such as AXA, Funding Societies (a leading fintech lender), and Axiata Digital, among others.

Since 2018, its annual revenue has risen 5X, Harshil said in a press conference announcing the deal. With investors like 500 Startups and Captii Ventures, as of 2020, Curlec has processed over $50 million in payments on its platform since its inception, according to a press release on its website.

"With the vast experience in a heterogeneous market like India over the last seven years, our expansion to the Southeast Asia payments market is timed exactly to coincide with the company’s growing dominance in all things payments," said Harshil in a press release.

Curlec's founding team will work in conjunction with Harshil and his founding team to build out payment solutions in Malaysia, Razorpay said.

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This marks Razorpay's fourth acquisition after TERA Finlabs last year, Opfin in 2019, and Thirdwatch in 2018. The fintech major said it has grown 300 percent yearly for the second year in a row and hopes to hit $90 billion in total payments volume by the end of 2022.

The fintech unicorn raised $375 million in its latest funding round in December last year, which it told YourStory will use to expand its B2B payments business, particularly to Southeast Asian countries, such as Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Asked about the roadmap to IPO, Harshil had told YourStory that Razorpay was at least 2.5 to three years away from making a bid for the public exchanges, especially considering it was well-capitalised.