Synopsis

  • Instamojo, a payments platform based out of Bengaluru, delivers small and micro-merchants with a go-to virtual platform, which can be deployed to setup an e-commerce business
  • Indian and global financial leaders have been purchasing stakes in the fintech start-up space that have proved deep inroads into the small merchant and payments ecosystem
  • Mastercard committed INR 250 crore to support small businesses in India last year

Mastercard, the leading global payments giant, broke the news of a strategic equity investment in Instamojo, the Indian fintech start-up, on June 28.

The idea behind the investment

Instamojo, the fintech start-up, is a platform that delivers small, medium, and micro-merchants with a ready-made virtual platform that can be deployed to setup an e-commerce business and trade with digital payments.

Using Instamojo’s platform, merchants have easy access to a comprehensive functional online store with inbuilt shipping features, payments features, marketing tools, and a range of value-added services such as credit and logistics conveniences.

Indian and global financial giants are progressively purchasing stakes in the fintech start-up genre, building deep roads into the small merchant and payments ecosystem.

On June 7, Cashfree, the banking technology company, revealed information on State Bank of India (SBI), India’s largest lender, making an investment of an undisclosed amount in the venture.

Established in 2012 by Akash Gehani, Harshad Sharma, and Swain, Instamojo focuses on helping merchants manage reconciliation and digital payments to create a digital presence.

On the funding front, the fintech start-up has received finance from a range of angel investors and venture capitalists viz, Blume Ventures, 500 Startups, Rob de Heus, Dave McClure, Rajan Anandan, Sunil Kalra, Shailesh Rao, Pankaj Jain, Thijs Gitmans, Avlesh Singh, and Bharathram Thothadri.

Instamojo, on its investments journey, had closed a pre-series C round of funding in the later part of 2020. As per data by Crunchbase, the start-up secured USD 8.4 million in funding to date.

In FY2020, Instamojo’s annualized Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) surged with about 23% hike compared to FY2019.

The experts’ take

Sampad Swain, CEO and Co-Founder of Instamojo said, “While we started as a payments solution for the small business, we have broadened our purview since then, and now we are focused on the larger picture of providing the small businesses with a platform which helps them to start, manage and grow their business online. It is no longer restricted to just payment collection but also about starting their own online store, collecting payments, and shipping their products. Hence creating an entire ecosystem of conducting business with ease for the small businesses.”

Rajeev Kumar, Senior Vice President, Market Development, South Asia, Mastercard, said, “MSMEs and gig workers are an important part of our Indian economy. Mastercard’s partnership and investment in Instamojo is a step in this direction and will enable millions of small businesses to grow by strengthening their digital footprint and payment acceptance capabilities.”

More about Instamojo

Instamojo, since its inception, made available the free online store feature. In early 2020 the company acquired the Times Internet company supported by  GET ME A Shop (GMAS), a software as a service (SaaS) platform for starting online stores for small businesses. As a part of the deal, Times Internet bagged a stake in Instamojo.