YC-backed fintech firm partners with 4 SME-focused startups

Decentro, a fintech firm backed by Y Combinator, has teamed up with four SME-facing platforms PagarBook, Simpel, SuperZop, and Minko, the India-based firm told Tech in Asia.

The Decentro team / Photo credit: Decentro

The partnerships will allow these SME platforms to use Decentro’s business-banking API to help MSMEs digitalize their operations and adopt a tech-driven approach to scaling their business.

Decentro caters to SME-facing platforms in India’s wholesale food, grocery, and retail categories.

Decentro’s platform enables owners of mom and pop stores to offer simplified payments through QR codes or UPI, instant settlements for suppliers and agents, and the linking of business bank accounts directly via APIs.

Additionally, Decentro provides an embedded finance offering, allowing SMEs to avail credit from non-banking financial companies.

“Connected banking enables SMEs to utilize financial and banking solutions designed specially to suit their needs in a very native manner across these platforms,” said Rohit Taneja, founder and CEO of Decentro. “With this new partnership, we are looking forward to empowering SMEs with advanced solutions that simplify and automate their processes.”

PagarBook is a bookkeeping startup that helps 8 million SMEs streamline financial record keeping and staff management. Meanwhile, Minko, whose clients include Unilever, Parle Agro, Coca-Cola, and Haldirams, aims to create an accessible credit line for offline retailers in India.

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The partnership comes amid the Indian government’s plans to push for digitalization among MSMEs. India has about 63 million MSMEs, of which 99% are small merchants. These MSMEs account for a quarter of India’s GDP.

While Simpel is a mobile payment app, which lets customers pay merchants using credit cards, debit cards, and bank accounts, SuperZop is a B2B procurement platform, where small retailers and restaurants can procure staples directly from farmers and mills.

Decentro said it has hit breakeven on a pre-tax level on a monthly basis after closing 2 million API-based transactions per month, with a jump of about 20% to 30% in the number of new platforms built on top of it.