POP Bags $2.4 Mn To Roll Out UPI Offerings For D2C Consumers

SUMMARY

The round also saw participation from an undisclosed group of angel investors.

The Bengaluru-based startup claims to have received a nod from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to be a third-party application provider (TPAP) and offer UPI payments via its app, POPclub.

As per Inc42’s data, India’s e-commerce market has raised more than $224 Mn in Q3 2023.

Ecommerce enablement startup POP has secured $2.4 Mn (around INR 20 Cr) in a seed funding round led by IndiaQuotient, with participation from a host of undisclosed angel investors.

The Bengaluru-based startup claims to have received an approval from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to be a third-party application provider (TPAP) and offer UPI payments via its app, POPclub. It claims to have partnered with Yes Bank and Juspay to build its UPI stack.

The company plans to deploy the fresh proceeds for implementation of its UPI services which will allow consumers to earn “POPcoin”, a shopping currency offered by POPclub app, on every transaction.

These POPcoin can be further used to buy products from direct-to-customer brands in categories like beauty, personal care, electronics, fashion and home goods, available on the app.

A part of freshly raised funds will also be used for expanding the team.

Founded in 2023 by Bhargav Errangi, POP claims to offer a reward of 2% POPcoins on every UPI transaction made by the customer on its app.

As per his LinkedIn profile, Errangi previously served as the senior director at Flipkart.

“POP’s goal is to become the most sought-after go-to platform for payments and shopping for digitally active young Indians. As consumer behaviours evolve, we aim to provide innovative app experiences tailored to their interests in daily consumption,” said Errangi.

This comes at a time when India’s ecommerce space grabbed attention from the government with the launch of Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in 2022.

Not just this, several homegrown ecommerce startups have also seen traction from investors lately.

For instance, beauty ecommerce marketplace Purplle.com has reportedly raised $100 Mn (INR 835 Cr) last week with focus to launch more offline stores this year.

While some startups are securing funds, other major ecommerce platforms like boAT Lifestyle and BlueStone are planning to go public in the coming months.

As per Inc42’s data, India’s e-commerce market has raised more than $224 Mn in Q3 2023.