Krafton Drives Cashfree’s $53M Funding Round at $700M Valuation
Cashfree, an Indian payments startup that manages over $80 billion for its clients annually, has secured $53 million in a recent funding round aimed at expanding its operations into select international markets.
The Series C funding round was led by Krafton, the company behind popular games like PUBG and BGMI, with participation from existing investor Apis Growth Fund. The announcement on Wednesday revealed that this nine-year-old startup, which has raised nearly $100 million to date, is now valued at $700 million, according to sources familiar with the situation.
This unique collaboration—a gaming company investing in a payments startup—is founded on the perceived strategic benefits for both parties, as discussed by their executives in a TechCrunch interview.
“Krafton is a large organization actively engaged in digital content across the internet, and payment companies like ours recognize a significant market opportunity alongside e-commerce, travel, and other financial services,” stated Akash Sinha, co-founder and CEO of Cashfree, in an interview. “There are synergies in creating seamless payment flows for lower ticket sizes.”
Krafton sees Cashfree as a vital payments partner, not just for itself but also for its expanding portfolio of startups in India, many of which may consider transitioning to Cashfree’s services in the near future. Although the two organizations do not currently handle transactions for games like BGMI, they indicated that discussions are in progress with an impending partnership.
“India’s fintech sector is undergoing extraordinary growth, and we believe Cashfree Payment’s leading role in India can be mirrored globally,” commented Sean Hyunil Sohn, CEO of Krafton India.
Based in Bangalore, Cashfree serves over 800,000 businesses, including well-known brands such as Swiggy, Zepto, and Bajaj Finance, providing a diverse range of solutions with access to more than 100 payment options. The startup has experienced a 130% increase in merchant sign-ups in this fiscal year, with a strong focus on expanding its reach in the UAE and other Middle Eastern markets.
“The MENA region is substantial enough,” Sinha emphasized. “Our aim is to emerge as a leader in this market, concentrating on major marketplaces such as UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, along with three smaller markets like Jordan and Kuwait.”
The founders of Cashfree inadvertently entered the payments arena. In 2015, Akash Sinha and Reeju Datta began with a straightforward service: assisting delivery workers in Bangalore with cash collection from customers. With no prior experience in payments, they quickly identified a larger opportunity when their restaurant clients requested online payment alternatives.
Initial investors were skeptical, doubting whether a payment processing startup could scale effectively. However, acceptance into Y Combinator shifted that narrative, even though the founders initially missed application deadlines and couldn’t join the cohort on time.
Recently, Cashfree obtained two additional licenses, including one for cross-border transactions, and has begun servicing several international clients.
Cashfree’s technology supports up to 12,000 transactions per second during peak periods. Additionally, the startup has introduced SecureID, an identity verification system that has conducted over a billion verifications to date, aiding businesses in fraud prevention while minimizing customer drop-offs during the onboarding process.
Cashfree is among the first entities to gain authorization from India’s central bank to function as a payment aggregator for both domestic and international transactions. Incubated by PayPal, the startup counts Y Combinator and State Bank of India among its early investors.
For Krafton, this investment fits seamlessly into its broader strategy in India, where it has allocated nearly $200 million across multiple startups.