In Startup50 2017: Rakesh Jhunjunwala and Kalaari Capital funded Airpay is a PCI-DSS certified omni-channel SaaS payments platform that offers Inbound and  Outbound payments across net banking, mobile PoS, IVR and Payment Gateways. What attracted our attention to this company is its nimble approach taken to craft sector-specific solutions like HotelPay, SchoolPay, PartnerPay etc. 

Founder : Amit Kapoor

Incorporated in April 2012, Airpay is India’s omni-channel payment platform that integrates payment options, be it online or point-of-sale. While a lot of push has happened on the issuing side in terms of cards (debit/credit), the company recognised the lag in the acquiring side of business and is trying to solve this challenge.

The company solves for its clients issues such as collecting payments from customers, disbursing payments to vendors and unifying the entire experience by giving CFOs a bird’s eye view of their cash flow. It also has built products that are sector specific and caters to the detailed needs of that particular segment. Merchants can integrate Airpay with any existing platforms, or work independently using any of its product suite. 

Getting Specific

Each sector has its own unique pain point and the company has tried to solve this for four key sectors: Education, hospitality, BFSI and retail. It has built sector specific products for hospitality (HotelPay), education (SchoolPay), society (SocietyPay), BFSI (InvoicePay), SME (NowPay) Corporate Payments (PartnerPay).  

Its key marketing strategy is the word-of-mouth approach and reaching out to the right people through its networks.

Fund raising journey

Airpay recently raised Rs. 24 crore recently from Kalaari Capital and Rakesh Jhunjhunwala.  These funds are being deployed to scale up as well as expand and upgrade its product and technology. The company has also utilised the funds to start sales offices in New Delhi and Bengaluru to cater to a wider market

Scaling up strategy 

Airpay has seen a significant growth in its revenue over the last two years. From Rs. 0.26 crore in FY15, it clocked a revenue of Rs. 3.53 crore in FY 16 and reached a whopping Rs. 52.50 crore in FY17. Going forward, it believes that there is a pan-India opportunity to digitise every payment transaction as most corporate vendor payments are still done the old way, through cheques.

Quick facts

• PCI-DSS certified omni-channel SaaS payments platform
• Offers sector-specific solutions specifically for Education, hospitality, BFSI and retail.
• Charges a fee of 2.5% transaction
• Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and Kalaari Capital invested Rs. 0.50 crore in FY14/15;  Rs. 6.25 crore in FY15/16 and Rs. 23.70 crore in FY16/17