- Funding Round Led by KRAFTON with participation from existing investor Apis Partners
- Cashfree annually processes USD 80 billion payments to businesses, including in MENA
Akash Sinha, CEO & Co-founder, Cashfree Payments,
Dubai, February 21, 2025: Payments company Cashfree Payments, which processes USD 80 billion in payments annually today said it has raised USD 53 Million in funding, a part of which will help accelerate its expansion and market presence in the UAE and the Middle East region, a rapidly growing hub for digital payments and financial innovation.
The funding round was led by Korean digital entertainment giant, KRAFTON and existing investor Apis Growth Fund II, a private equity fund managed by Apis Partners Group (UK) Limited (“Apis Partners”).
In a statement, Cashfree’s strategic partner with Telr has been processing payments in the Middle East, serving multiple businesses in the region. It said the funding will help the company boost its market outreach. Cashfree is present in UAE and plans to expand in the Middle East region.
Akash Sinha, CEO & Co-founder, Cashfree Payments, said, “As we enter the next phase of our growth journey, we are particularly focused on expanding in the Middle East, leveraging our partnership with Telr, a UAE-based payments firm, where we made a strategic investment three years ago. We are also excited to welcome KRAFTON as a strategic partner with continued support from our existing investors, Apis Growth Fund II and the team at Apis Partners. ”
With deep insights from India’s fintech success, Cashfree aims to apply these learnings to developing markets that are experiencing similar rapid growth in digital payments. The Middle Eastern region is witnessing strong adoption of digital payments across key sectors such as e-commerce, travel, remittances, and digital-first businesses, making them strategic growth areas for Cashfree. The company sees international markets as a strong growth catalyst. While India remains the core market, expansion across MENA is expected to be a significant booster for Cashfree’s global footprint.
“Our mission at Cashfree has been to empower businesses with the ability to transact in the digital economy with unparalleled security and efficiency. This investment will help us accelerate our key efforts – across cross-border, security innovations and international expansion. Growing sustainably has been core to our identity and how we function at Cashfree. We are focused on driving profitable growth as we scale. Our mission is clear: to create long-term value for our customers and lead innovation in the payments space, both in India and internationally., said Sinha.
In FY25, Cashfree has seen merchant signups grow 130% as compared to previous years and anticipates robust revenue growth, driven by increased wallet share from existing customers and continued success in cross-selling to its broad client base. Cashfree currently works with 800,000 businesses, from internet startups to public enterprises. Cashfree is authorised by the Reserve Bank of India to operate as a payment aggregator for both domestic and cross-border payments (Import & Export), and was one of the first entities to be authorised. It is also authorised to issue Prepaid Instruments
Cashfree helps businesses collect payments online and make payouts. With an easy onboarding and integration process, and compatibility with popular merchant platforms like Shopify, Wix, WordPress, WooCommerce, WhatsApp, Cashfree enables businesses to start transactions within a day. It offers features like one-click checkout, abandoned cart recovery, and return prediction, helping businesses improve the payment experience, boost conversions and grow profitably. It has also introduced Embedded Payments, allowing platforms, ERPs, and SaaS businesses to integrate payments as a feature into their product with ease and in a compliant manner
In India, Cashfree is trusted by leading brands like Swiggy, redBus, Zepto, BigBasket, Bajaj Finance and more.
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About Cashfree Payments:
Founded in 2015, Cashfree Payments is a leader in payments in India. Businesses use Cashfree Payments to collect payments from 100+ payment methods, make payouts, make cross-border payments, improve conversions with a one-click checkout, recover abandoned carts, and predict and reduce returns. With an easy onboarding and integration process, and compatibility with popular merchant platforms like Shopify, Wix, WordPress, WooCommerce, WhatsApp, Cashfree Payments enables businesses to start transactions within a day. Cashfree Payments directly connects with all payment networks and owns its payment processing technology end-to-end, ensuring higher success rates and reliability. Built for scale, it enables businesses to process an industry-leading 12,000 transactions per second, handling peak demand effortlessly.
Alongside payments, Cashfree Payments offers SecureID, an identity verification stack with a comprehensive suite of APIs and KYC components. SecureID enables fintechs and startups to streamline compliant onboarding and KYC flows by minimising user inputs, thus reducing drop-offs, intelligently verifying identity documents, and detecting fraud and anomalies with high accuracy.
Cashfree Payments is backed by Silicon Valley investor Y Combinator, Apis Partners, State Bank of India (SBI), and was incubated by PayPal.
About KRAFTON, Inc.
Headquartered in South Korea, KRAFTON, Inc. is dedicated to discovering and publishing captivating games that offer fun and unique experiences. Established in 2007, KRAFTON is home to globally renowned developers that include PUBG STUDIOS, Striking Distance Studios, Unknown Worlds, VECTOR NORTH, Neon Giant, KRAFTON Montréal Studio, Bluehole Studio, RisingWings, 5minlab, Dreamotion, ReLU Games, Flyway Games, Tango Gameworks and inZOI Studio. Each studio strives to continuously take on new challenges and leverage innovative technologies. Their goal is to win over more fans by broadening KRAFTON’s platforms and services. With a passionate and driven team across the globe, KRAFTON is a tech-forward company that possesses world-class capabilities and is set on expanding its business horizons to encompass multimedia entertainment and deep learning. For more information, visit www.krafton.com.