PeLocal, a payment solutions provider within Whatsapp, raised $2 million in seed funding funding round led by Unicorn India Ventures.
The startup plans to use the capital raised to develop and improve the platform and also help accelerate go-to-market strategies for large-scale project deployment.
What does PeLocal do?
Founded in 2021 by Vivekanand Tripathi (Founder & CEO), PeLocal is pioneering payment solutions within WhatsApp, advancing digital transactions for clients like Delhi Metro, Indraprastha Gas, Mahanagar Gas and insurers.
The startup specializes in public transport ticketing, utility payments and financial services, offering secure solutions to the public and private sectors.
The growth of PeLocal
PeLocal claims to have gone from 500,000 monthly payment transactions to 3 million monthly payment transactions in the last 12 months.
The startup now aims to reach 10 million monthly payment transactions on WhatsApp in the next 12 months. It will also launch a marketing catalog on WhatsApp with an SME payments and payments platform on WhatsApp.
“PeLocal is delighted to be supported by Unicorn India Ventures. The deep expertise and strategic insights of Unicorn executives, who have backed several high-performing fintech startups, will be invaluable as we continue to build on our growth momentum. This is our first institutional funding and we believe it is a crucial step in the right direction, providing the support and guidance needed to fuel our continued expansion and success,” said Vivekanand Tripathi , founder and CEO of PeLocal.
Investor comments
Commenting on the investment, Anil Joshi, Managing Partner, Unicorn India Ventures, said, “India is undoubtedly one of the fastest growing fintech markets in the world, driven by rapid adoption of digital technologies . As digital payment solutions grow, there is still a need for a single and simple digital payment solution for micro-payments on the fly, which PeLocal enables through the WhatsApp platform and enables a seamless experience for consumers and service providers.
“As we have a strong track record of investing in the fintech segment, we believe PeLocal will continue its momentum and also continue to evolve with its innovative solutions and strengthen its leadership position in this space. PeLocal has experienced a 3x annual growth rate in the industry. over the last 24 months and will launch new solutions. Therefore, we believe the market opportunity is huge and the company has created the right momentum to capitalize on this segment,” added Joshi.