FTCash Secures Funding From 500 Startups, IvyCap Ventures

Mumbai-based mobile payments platform for micro merchants, FTCash, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding in its Pre-Series A round, from 500 Startups. Existing investors IvyCap Ventures also participated in the round.

The startup will deploy the raised funds for product development and merchant acquisition. It will also be used for acquiring new talent in the team.

Founded in 2014 by Sanjeev Chandak, Deepak Kothari, and Vaibhav Lodha, FTcash provides seamless solutions for micro-merchants to accept payments through multiple payment instruments including debit cards, credit cards, and mobile wallets. It additionally also provides short-term loans to these merchants.

Commenting on the funding, Sanjeev Chandak, co-founder and CEO of FTCash said, “Their support will enable us to further accelerate our business growth, drive our expansion plans and scale up operations in Mumbai, Surat, Jaipur, and Pune.”

The startup currently facilitates payments solutions to more than 25K merchants. It further plans to scale to $233 Mn (INR 1,500 Cr) worth of annual transactions.

Sheel Mohnot, Partner, 500 Startups commented, “The Indian startup ecosystem is an exciting place for investors and VCs. FTCash has established itself as one of the most innovative companies today in the fintech sector. Through our association with the company, we aim to help the company unlock the vast market potential for its product, possibly on a global scale.”

The startup was also a part of Paypal’s Start Tank Incubation Challenge in Chennai, in November 2015. In March 2016, it raised around $148K (INR 1 Cr) in funding from the IvyCamp platform.

The digital payments industry in India is projected to reach $500 Bn by 2020, as a per a recent report by Google and Boston Consulting Group, driven by the rising number of digital payments with players like Ezetap, Paytm, MobiKwik and MSwipe dominating the market.

In May 2016, Gurgaon-based mobile wallet company, MobiKwik raised an undisclosed amount of funding led by Japan’s GMO Payment Gateway and MediaTek. In August 2016, South Africa-based Net1 UEPS Technologies Inc. invested $40 Mn for a subscription agreement with MobiKwik in order to mark its foray in India. UAE-based payments solutions provider OMA Emirates has acquired fintech startup MobiSwipe Technologies Pvt. Ltd for an undisclosed amount.

Other players competing with FTCash include Momoe, Ultracash, Ruplee etc. Earlier in January 2017, it was reported that 500 Startups has deferred its plans to raise a $25 Mn India-focussed fund, called 500 Kulfi. The reasons for holding it off have been cited as taxation and regulatory concerns.