CashFree

The pilot program utilizes UPI’s ‘reserve pay’ feature, allowing users to set aside funds for merchants.

The India-based firm, which was valued at only around US$200 million during its last fundraising round, is now seeking a sale price of US$1.2 billion.

In The Top Up this week, we analyze the digital banking race unfolding in Indonesia and dive into the new PayNow-UPI linkage.

Cashfree is used by businesses including Zomato, Cred, Nykaa, Delhivery, Acko, and Shell, among others.

The collaboration would allow Shipway’s over 12,000 connected merchants to process refunds through Cashfree’s Payouts platform.

As part of the partnership, businesses using Cashfree’s payment gateway will be able to add PayPal’s Express Checkout option to their order page.

Cashfree aims to have a headcount of more than 300 workers by March 2021 and hit over 400 by December 2021.

The startup plans to use the new funds to scale its payments offering, develop new product verticals, and make strategic investments.

It raised US$5.5 million in an investment round led by Korea’s Smilegate Investments last year.

The India-based fintech startup plans to hire more people and develop more use cases with proceeds from the funding.