[Funding alert] Fintech startup PayGlocal raises $12M from Tiger Global, Sequoia, BEENEXT

Payment solutions startup PayGlocal has raised $12 million in a Series B funding round led by Tiger Global, with participation from Sequoia Capital India and BEENEXT.

This is the startup's second fundraise in the last six months. In December 2021, the fintech company had raised $4.9 million in a Series A funding round led by Sequoia Capital, along with investors including BEENEXT, Jitendra Gupta, and Amrish Rau. 

In a special resolution passed by the company’s board, PayGlocal allotted 16,510 Series B compulsory cumulative preference shares at an issue price of Rs 56,315.73 per share to raise $12 million (Rs 93 crore). 

While Tiger Global pumped $6 million (Rs 46.3 crore), Sequoia and BEENEXT infused $4.28 million (Rs 33.01 crore) and $1.11 million (Rs 8.56 crore), respectively. 

QED Innovation along with angle investors—Amrish Rau, Sweta Rau, Jitendra Gupta, and Ruby Jain— collectively invested $0.6 million (Rs 5.1 crore). 

Founded in 2021 by ex-Visa executives Prachi Dharani, Rohit Sukhija, and Yogesh Lokhande, PayGlocal enables merchants to accept and collect payments from global customers in the currency of their choice and using their own credit and debit cards. The Bengaluru-based startup has partnered with private and public sector banks to accept international payments in over 100 currencies.

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Cross-border payments landscape  

Since 2016, India’s cross-border remittances have been growing steadily at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 8 percent, driven by the increase in global mobility of goods and services, international travel and international workforce, says a PwC report. At around $83 billion, India is the largest global market for inward remittance flow, followed by China and Mexico. 

Fintechs have been leveraging technology and capturing the white space in cross-border payments left unaddressed by legacy models. Recently, a blockchain-based cross-border payment system, Open Financial Technologies, entered the coveted unicorn club with a fresh funding round, raising $50 million from the Mumbai-headquartered IIFL Finance. 

The theme of the Reserve Bank of India's second cohort of the regulatory sandbox framework was how fintechs can solve today’s problems with cross-border payments. Besides Open Financial Technologies, seven other entities—Book My Forex, Cashfree Payments, Fairex Solutions, Flyremit, Nearby Technologies, SoCash India, and Wall Street Finance—were selected for the ‘test phase’ of the second cohort on cross-border payments.