Cashfree Payments acquires checkout platform Zecpe

Payments and API banking company Cashfree Payments has acquired Gurugram-based startup, Zecpe, which offers a one-click checkout tool for ecommerce companies.  

The product integration will enable Cashfree to offer enhanced D2C checkout capabilities to its merchants, said a statement from the company. The checkout tool aims to help merchants increase conversion rates, and support incremental monetisation and scaling, by making the checkout process quick and seamless for customers.

Zecpe will now operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cashfree Payments.

Hriday Agarwal, Founder of Zecpe, will join Cashfree as Head, Ecommerce — Checkout. Other employees of the startup will also join the Cashfree team.  

“We see immense synergies between our existing products and the solutions offered by Zecpe, making it an excellent addition to our D2C Payments Suite enabled for ecommerce businesses," said Akash Sinha, CEO and Co-Founder, Cashfree Payments. 

"We are certain that this acquisition will strengthen our D2C one-click checkout capabilities," he added.

“D2C space is exploding in India and presents a fantastic opportunity to help ecommerce players increase their conversion rates and reduce COD fraud and returns," said Agarwal.

"We see a natural fitment with Cashfree Payments' payments stack. The products that we have developed will benefit from the scale that Cashfree Payments has built over the years.” 

Cashfree says three lakh merchants, including ecommerce and D2C brands such as Nykaa, FirstCry, Nature's Basket, BigBasket, Zomato, Noise, Bella Vita Organic, and MyFitness, use its payments platform. 

Backed by Y Combinator, Apis Partners and State Bank of India, the payment gateway provider had earlier acquired Dubai-based payments firm Telr to expand its footprint in MENA.

“We have always considered M&A routes as part of our expansion plans to enhance our reach and product suite," said Sinha. "The acquisition of Telr helped us to foray into international space. Zecpe, on the other hand, is a product-related acquisition aimed at strengthening our current offerings in India."