Beenext co-leads $5.5m round in ex-PayU execs’ BNPL startup

Indian fintech startup ShopSe said it has raised US$5.5 million in funding led by Chiratae Ventures and Beenext.

The round also saw participation from Pentathlon Ventures, Opus, and Yatra Angel Network’s Abhishant Pant, an existing angel backer of the firm.

Photo credit: ShopSe

Founded in 2020, ShopSe offers a pay later and equated monthly installment (EMI) platform which – by partnering with lenders and retailers – provides payment options to customers at the point of purchase.

With the new funds, the fintech firm will hire talent, expand its market reach, and accelerate product development. The team also plans to be present in over 200,000 retail points within 12 months, said the firm in a statement.

ShopSe was founded by Pallav Jain, Abhishek Nimonkar, and Yagnesh Desai who together worked in Indian payment gateway startup PayU.

ShopSe claims that more than 10,000 retailers use its platform and that it has partnered with Indian banks with over 45 million consumers eligible for loans.

The digital lending market in India is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 36% to reach US$100 billion by 2023.

Some players in the buy now, pay later space include PayU’s credit business LazyPay and Simpl, which raised a total funding amount of US$26.7 million to date. Lending fintech firm MoneyTap, backed by Sequoia Capital India, is also reportedly expanding its business into the buy now, pay later sector.