Times Group Invests INR 7 Cr In Instamojo Post GetMeAShop Acquisition

Bengaluru-based fintech company Instamojo has raised INR 6.99 Cr ($944 K) from the digital arm of Times Group, Times Internet. The development comes after Instamojo acquired Gurugram-based GetMeAShop from Times Internet for $5 Mn last month.

While announcing the acquisition, Instamojo cofounder and CEO Sampad Swain had also said that Times Internet would get a stake in the fintech company. However, the details of this deal were not made public.

As per the regulatory filings of February 27 accessed by Inc42, Times Internet Limited has bought 4,435 Series A Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares (CCPS) worth INR 6.99 Cr. Besides this, the filings highlight that Instamojo would also issue 9,124 shares worth INR 12.4 Cr to Times Internet against consideration towards the acquisition of GetMeAShop.

Instamojo had raised its Series A round back in 2014, and its Series B round in January last year. The Bengaluru-based company had raised an undisclosed amount in Series A round from  Kalaari Capital, Blume Ventures and 500Startups. With this round, Kalaari Capital’s director Vani Kola and Blume Ventures’ managing partner Karthik Reddy have joined the board of Instamojo.

“We hope that with our new technology & fresh approach, we are able to create a frictionless payments ecosystem that fosters product innovation. Thus, creating a level playing ground for micro-merchants to leverage internet, mobile & payments together to create newer opportunities and livelihoods,” the company said in its press note.

Whereas, Instamojo had also raised INR 50 Cr ($7 Mn) in Series B round led by Japanese investor AnyPay. Gunosy Capital had also participated in the funding round, along with Instamojo’s previous investors Kalaari Capital, Beenext, and angel investor Rashmi Kwatra. So far, the company has raised more than $14 Mn till date across several rounds.

Founded in 2012 by Akash Gehani, Harshad Sharma, and Sampad Swain, Instamojo allows users to accept payments using credit and debit cards, e-wallets and unified payments interface (UPI). The company helps merchants to create a digital presence and manage the online payments process for their businesses.

Over the last 18 months, the company has also been partnering with lending and logistics service providers to deliver high quality and reliable services. With this move, the company plans to bring more business more efficient and cost-effective for registered merchants.

The company had also launched mojoExpress and mojoCapital, back in August 2018. The company’s newest offerings mojoExpress provides logistics solutions for the products being sold on its mojoEcommerce platform, while mojoCapital provides credit and lending solutions to micro-merchants.