Pine Labs acquires fintech startup Qfix Infocomm

Fintech unicorn Pine Labs, which is planning to list on the US stock market, continues with its inorganic strategy with the acquisition of Qfix Infocomm, a Mumbai-based online payments startup, for an undisclosed value.

This is the third acquisition by Pine Labs after Singapore based Fave and QwikCilver Solutions as it looks to expand its portfolio of services.

Founded in 2015, Qfix provides online integrated payments and billing services to multiple sectors and has more than 50 merchants on its platform which includes educational institutions, governments, and clubs. HDFC Bank is its lead distribution partner.

In a statement from Pine Labs, CEO Amrish Rau said, “As businesses look at ways to improve efficiency, everyday processes between suppliers and customers need an overhaul too. Qfix’s innovations through their smart invoicing and workflow management and billing tools would help offer a complete merchant payments and commerce platform through Plural.”

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On this development, Venugopal Choudhary, MD, Qfix Infocomm said, “I am confident this acquisition will further accelerate our growth momentum and help us serve to the needs of multiple sectors requiring curated and innovative online payment solutions and commerce solutions that are secure, seamless, and speedier when it comes to execution.”

The core offering of Pine Labs is the point of sale (PoS) devices for the merchant community along with a credit facility allowing to process transactions from multiple financial institutions.

In 2021, Pine Labs had announced its foray into the online payments space with the launch of three products – Plural Gateway, Plural Checkout, and Plural Console.

Pine Labs acquired gift card technology startup Qwikcilver in March 2019 and Fave, a loyalty programme and QR code startup in April 2021 in a transaction valued at more than $45 million.

The key markets of Pine Labs are in India and South-East Asia. The venture is backed by investors such as Sequoia India, Actis Capital, Temasek, PayPal, and Mastercard.