Latest news with #HarshilMathur
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Business Standard
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
'Much-needed relief': Startups on Sebi reforms relaxing ESOP norms
The ease in norms from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) comes at a time when multiple Indian startups such as PhonePe, Zepto, Pine Labs Udisha Srivastav Peerzada Abrar Ajinkya Kawale New Delhi/Bengaluru/Mumbai Startups are hailing SEBI's latest reforms as a much-needed relief, calling them a timely move that removes key hurdles in the IPO journey. The easing of stock holding norms for founders and simplification of rules for existing investors to participate in offer-for-sale (OFS) components are expected to boost listing plans for new-age companies. The ease in norms from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) comes at a time when multiple Indian startups such as PhonePe, Zepto, Pine Labs, among others are targeting to go public soon. Over 30 startups, with a cumulative value of $100 billion may go public in the next two years, a report by The Rainmaker Group shows. Harshil Mathur, CEO and co-founder of fintech giant Razorpay, said 'SEBI's move marks a defining moment for India's startup ecosystem. By empowering founders to stay invested and easing the road back home, this step fuels a future where the best Indian companies are built, scaled, and celebrated right here. It's not just a policy tweak, it's a signal that India is ready to be the world's innovation hub,' said Mathur. The markets regulator's proposal allows founders to retain share-based benefits such as employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) at the time of filing their draft red herring prospectus (DRHP), on the condition that these benefits are granted one year prior to filing the document. "This move brings more flexibility and fairness to how founders stay invested. It also reduces the friction for good companies to go public," said Vikram Chopra, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of auto-tech platform CARS24. 'It's also a change many in the ecosystem, including us at CARS24 have been requesting for a while. The capital markets benefit when the people building businesses remain motivated to stay the course. This is a step in the right direction,' said Chopra. Bankers explained that the market regulator usually insists on categorising founders as promoters as they have a controlling say in the management. Earlier, traditional promoters and founders of startups, were barred from holding share-based benefits since there was no distinction between the two. However, startup cap-tables go through rounds of dilution during fundraise with founders dependent on ESOPs. Startup founders explained that the new norms may enable healthier exits for early teams and founders. "SEBI's ESOP reforms are a much-needed recognition of the long-term skin in the game that founders bring to the table. By allowing founders to retain ESOPs granted before the IPO, the move removes a structural bias that discouraged listings and limited wealth creation," said Abhiroop Medhekar, co-founder and CEO, of Velocity, an e-commerce enablement platform. 'This positive reform comes as a big relief to founders of new-age companies as it will enable them to avail skin-in-the-game benefits and align their interests with other shareholders,' said industry body Startup Policy Forum (SPF) It streamlines how accredited investors, already participants in AIFs, can co-invest in high-conviction opportunities alongside fund managers, aligns India with global norms, and removes longstanding friction around such structures. "This will further increase the flow of private, especially domestic capital, to entrepreneurial and growth businesses. By limiting CIVs to accredited investors, SEBI has also signaled a shift toward more principle-based, lighter-touch regulation for qualified participants," said Gopal Srinivasan, Chairman and Managing Director of TVS Capital Funds and Senior Board Member, Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association (IVCA). Executives added that the move will enable investors to participate in funds with ease. "We often have sophisticated investors who want the option of co-investing but struggle for lack of appropriate structures to do so; especially global institutional investors and family offices. With this change, within the same scheme one is able to offer co-investments to such investors and therefore makes the proposition far more attractive and tenable. This will certainly help us bring on some marquee investors into the fund," Abhishek Prasad, managing partner at Cornerstone Ventures said.
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Business Standard
4 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Fintech POP raises $30 mn from Razorpay to build loyalty-first model
Consumer payments application POP raised $30 million from business-to-business (B2B) fintech Razorpay on Thursday, a year after the company launched its operations on India's real-time payments system, Unified Payments Interface (UPI). The investment will enable Razorpay to expand its presence in the business-to-consumer (B2C) segment. POP has previously raised funding from investors including India Quotient, Unilever Ventures, Incubate Fund and NuVentures. Since the year of its launch, the fintech firm has clocked over 6 lakh daily UPI transactions, crossed 1 million unique monthly active transactors and executed over two lakh monthly commerce shipments. It claims to have more than 40,000 RuPay credit cards in a co-branded partnership with Yes Bank. 'India doesn't need another cashback-only rewards app. What we need is a new rewards economy built on a long-term purpose. POPcoins are designed to build habits, increase retention and reduce CAC (customer acquisition cost) for merchants — all while making payments more rewarding for the end user,' said Bhargav Errangi, Founder, POP. He added that the company will double down on a loyalty-first payments ecosystem after Razorpay's investment. In May, the company clocked 13.5 million UPI transactions. It is ranked 21st on the UPI leaderboard, which is currently dominated by PhonePe and Google Pay. 'Our investment in POP is driven by a clear purpose and that is to serve D2C merchants better. In today's crowded D2C space, brands need more than just payment solutions; they need tools to earn trust, drive repeat purchases and build real loyalty,' said Harshil Mathur, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Razorpay.
Entrepreneur
4 days ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Fintech Startup POP Raises USD 30 Mn from Razorpay
The funds will be deployed to enhance product innovation, strengthen POP's loyalty-focused offering via its POPcoins rewards currency, and deepen partnerships with D2C and lifestyle merchants. You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. Bengaluru-based fintech startup POP has announced the raising of USD 30 million in funding from Razorpay, a full-stack financial services platform, marking a strategic move to revolutionise the country's digital payment and commerce landscape. The funds will be deployed to enhance product innovation, strengthen POP's loyalty-focused offering via its POPcoins rewards currency, and deepen partnerships with D2C and lifestyle merchants. Founded in 2023 by former Flipkart executive Bhargav Errangi, POP is a rewards-first consumer platform that merges UPI payments, a D2C-focused marketplace, and a co-branded RuPay credit card into one seamless ecosystem. At the heart of its offering is POPcoins, a brand-funded rewards currency that users earn through UPI payments, in-app shopping, or by using POP's RuPay credit card, and redeem across a growing network of partner merchants. Since launching its UPI platform in June 2024, POP claims to have quickly scaled to over six lakh daily UPI transactions, one million monthly active transactors, and over two lakh monthly commerce shipments. It has also issued 40,000+ co-branded RuPay credit cards in partnership with Yes Bank. "India doesn't need another cashback-only rewards app. We need a new rewards economy built on long-term purpose. POPcoins are designed to build habits, increase retention, and reduce CAC for merchants—all while making payments more rewarding," said Bhargav Errangi, Founder of POP. "With Razorpay's support, we will double down on our mission to build a loyalty-first payments ecosystem that helps businesses scale with purpose and speed." The investment signals Razorpay's deeper push into loyalty, engagement, and commerce enablement. "In today's crowded D2C space, brands need more than just payment solutions. POP bridges the gap with a powerful platform that turns everyday transactions into lasting relationships," said Harshil Mathur, Co-founder and CEO of Razorpay. The deal complements Razorpay's acquisition of PoshVine and aligns with its vision to empower merchants through Razorpay Engage, India's first intelligent marketing growth suite.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Razorpay invests $30 million into consumer payments startup Pop
Pop , a consumer payment platform, has raised $30 million from payments solutions company Razorpay . This investment will go towards solving two of India's most pressing challenges in digital commerce : rising customer acquisition costs (CAC) for merchants and the lack of meaningful rewards for consumers. The company operates a rewards-first UPI payments app that merges payments, commerce, and credit into one experience. It has previously raised funding from several marquee investors, including India Quotient, Unilever Ventures, Incubate Fund, and Nuventures. "India doesn't need another cashback-only rewards app. What we need is a new rewards economy built on a long-term purpose. Popcoins are designed to build habits, increase retention, and reduce CAC for merchants — all while making payments more rewarding for the end user,' said Bhargav Errangi, Founder of Pop. 'With Razorpay's support, we will double down on our mission to bring a loyalty-first payments ecosystem that will help businesses scale with purpose, speed, and impact.' Pop will use the funding to strengthen product innovation, enhance the value proposition for consumers via Popcoins-led rewards, and build deeper merchant partnerships across D2C and lifestyle categories. Since launching its UPI platform last June, Pop has scaled to over six lakh daily UPI transactions, crossed one million unique monthly active transactors, fulfilled two lakh monthly commerce shipments and issued 40,000 RuPay credit cards in a co-branded partnership with Yes Bank . The investment expands Razorpay's footprint beyond payments into the broader ecosystem of loyalty, engagement, and commerce enablement. The company believes that while checkout journeys have been digitized, most merchants still lack easy-to-use tools that incentivize repeat purchases, drive real-time engagement, and convert casual visitors into loyal customers. Pop solves this by building a multi-brand rewards currency in the form of Pop Coins, in the company's view. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories 'Our investment in Pop is driven by a clear purpose and that is to serve D2C merchants better. In today's crowded D2C space, brands need more than just payment solutions; they need tools to earn trust, drive repeat purchases, and build real loyalty,' said Harshil Mathur, co-founder and CEO of Razorpay. 'Pop bridges that gap by combining instant rewards, seamless payments, and brand discovery in one platform. It's a powerful way for businesses to turn everyday transactions into lasting customer relationships." This investment in Pop complements Razorpay's earlier acquisition of PoshVine, a loyalty and rewards management platform, which laid the foundation for Razorpay Engage, touted as India's 'first full-stack intelligent marketing growth suite'. According to a recent Consumer Spending Report by Upside, over 90% of digital consumers consider rewards and loyalty while making purchase decisions. With India's D2C market expected to surpass $100 billion by 2026, the pressure on brands to create sticky, rewarding customer experiences has never been greater.
Economic Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Economic Times
Razorpay invests $30 million into consumer payments startup Pop
ETtech (L-R) Harshil Mathur, Shashank Kumar, cofounders, Razorpay Pop, a consumer payment platform, has raised $30 million from payments solutions company Razorpay. This investment will go towards solving two of India's most pressing challenges in digital commerce: rising customer acquisition costs (CAC) for merchants and the lack of meaningful rewards for company operates a rewards-first UPI payments app that merges payments, commerce, and credit into one experience. It has previously raised funding from several marquee investors, including India Quotient, Unilever Ventures, Incubate Fund, and Nuventures."India doesn't need another cashback-only rewards app. What we need is a new rewards economy built on a long-term purpose. Popcoins are designed to build habits, increase retention, and reduce CAC for merchants — all while making payments more rewarding for the end user,' said Bhargav Errangi, Founder of Pop. 'With Razorpay's support, we will double down on our mission to bring a loyalty-first payments ecosystem that will help businesses scale with purpose, speed, and impact.'Pop will use the funding to strengthen product innovation, enhance the value proposition for consumers via Popcoins-led rewards, and build deeper merchant partnerships across D2C and lifestyle categories. Since launching its UPI platform last June, Pop has scaled to over six lakh daily UPI transactions, crossed one million unique monthly active transactors, fulfilled two lakh monthly commerce shipments and issued 40,000 RuPay credit cards in a co-branded partnership with Yes Bank. The investment expands Razorpay's footprint beyond payments into the broader ecosystem of loyalty, engagement, and commerce enablement. The company believes that while checkout journeys have been digitized, most merchants still lack easy-to-use tools that incentivize repeat purchases, drive real-time engagement, and convert casual visitors into loyal customers. Pop solves this by building a multi-brand rewards currency in the form of Pop Coins, in the company's view. 'Our investment in Pop is driven by a clear purpose and that is to serve D2C merchants better. In today's crowded D2C space, brands need more than just payment solutions; they need tools to earn trust, drive repeat purchases, and build real loyalty,' said Harshil Mathur, co-founder and CEO of Razorpay. 'Pop bridges that gap by combining instant rewards, seamless payments, and brand discovery in one platform. It's a powerful way for businesses to turn everyday transactions into lasting customer relationships."This investment in Pop complements Razorpay's earlier acquisition of PoshVine, a loyalty and rewards management platform, which laid the foundation for Razorpay Engage, touted as India's 'first full-stack intelligent marketing growth suite'.According to a recent Consumer Spending Report by Upside, over 90% of digital consumers consider rewards and loyalty while making purchase decisions. With India's D2C market expected to surpass $100 billion by 2026, the pressure on brands to create sticky, rewarding customer experiences has never been greater.
