Payment Gateway Telr Raises $3 Mn Series B From Innovations East

Payment gateway Telr has raised $3 Mn Series B investment from Innovations East.

The startup will use the recently raised funding to build out and enhance its core product proposition and roll out new payment methods. The funding will also be utilised to scale up operations in focus markets, especially India and other emerging markets.

Funds will also be deployed to create an ecosystem for SMEs seeking to take their businesses online – with initiatives such as a web store builder and short-term lending. Queries sent to Telr regarding investor information awaited response at the time of publication.

Founded in 2013 by Sirish Kumar and Elias Ghanem, Singapore-headquartered Telr offers a set of unified APIs and tools that instantly enable businesses to accept and manage online payments via web, mobile and social media.

The startup provides online and mobile multi-currencies payment gateway processing services and cash management solutions to merchants in emerging markets across Southeast Asia, Middle East, and Africa. The unified applications and tools provided by Telr enable businesses to accept and manage online payments via web and mobile in the consumer’s currency and language of choice.

Commenting upon the fundraising and future plans, Sirish Kumar, CEO and co-founder of Telr said, “The infusion of funds in the Series B round would help Telr to not only strengthen its core offering, but also innovate around payment methods. Furthermore, while we focus on deeper penetration in the UAE, India, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Indonesia, the funds will facilitate our continued expansion to other emerging markets.”

As per an official statement, the company has witnessed a growth of more than over $500 Mn of transactions, annually. It anticipates reaching $1 Bn transactions per year, by the end of 2017.

In August 2016, fintech company PayU acquired rival CitrusPay in an all-cash deal for about $149 Mn-$179 Mn. Post-demonetisation in November 2016, digital transactions witnessed an unprecedented surge.  In February 2017, it was reported that Ahmedabad-based Infibeam was planning to merge with payment gateway CCAvenue where it had invested about $6.7 Mn (INR 45 Cr) in May 2016. Other startups in this segment include Paytm, MobiKwik, Freecharge, Oxigen, Razorpay, Newgen Payments, etc.