PayNearby plans to tap IPO market next financial year to fuel expansion
The fintech firm has already initiated the process and have held talks with three merchant banks and will soon select a banker to proceed with the IPO process.
Fintech firm PayNearby is planning an initial public offering (IPO) in the next financial year to boost the next phase of growth.
"We have initiated the IPO process and talks with three merchant bankers. We will soon select a merchant banker to proceed with the process," PayNearby founder, MD and CEO Anand Kumar Bajaj told PTI.
Once the merchant banker is finalised, PayNearby will file its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with the capital market regulator Sebi, he added.
The company reported a gross revenue of about Rs 300 crore and earned a profit of 12 crore in FY25.
The company's Distribution-as-a-Service (DaaS) model leverages retail stores, enabling them to offer cash withdrawal, remittance, bill payment and other services to their local communities, and it expects revenue to grow by 10 per cent in the current fiscal.
As part of expansion, he said, the company aims to recruit around 550-600 new employees by the end of the current fiscal year.
On women's empowerment, Bajaj said PayNearby's Digital Naari is creating a socio-economic impact across Tier 2 regions, semi-urban and rural areas, with women stepping into roles that bring essential services to their neighbourhood and sustainable incomes to their homes.
The programme's mission is to build grassroots community influencers who drive awareness and improve access to essential services like banking, health, sanitation, insurance, and credit for other women in their areas, he said.
Digital Naari was launched in early 2024 to uplift rural and semi-urban women by providing them with digital tools that enable them to have income-generating opportunities, he pointed out.
This also aligns with the government's vision of Lakhpati Didi. To date, over 1.5 lakh women across 10,000+ PIN codes have been onboarded, he noted.
Each Digital Naari, or digital banker 'didi', operates from home or her own Customer Service Point (CSP), offering essential services.
By facilitating these services and earning a commission on each transaction, these women are building sustainable livelihoods while expanding access to critical financial and digital tools, he said.
Together, they facilitate transactions worth Rs 10,000 crore annually, he said, adding that over 60 per cent of them are first-time entrepreneurs, earning an average of Rs 3,500 to Rs 5,000 per month.
To achieve the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047 faster, PayNearby aims to onboard at least 20 lakh Digital Pradhans and 20 lakh Digital Naaris in the next five years, he added.