Mumbai-based Mswipe raises $20 million in ongoing funding round led by Alpha Wave

Mswipe Technologies has successfully raised a $20 million investment in the latest funding round led by Alpha Wave Global and other investors, the company stated in a press release.

Notably, this funding marks a resurgence after a five-year hiatus for the Mumbai-based digital payments company. 

Interestingly, Mswipe had recently obtained a payment aggregator license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). 

In the previous rounds, the digital payment company had raised over $125 million from renowned investors like Matrix Partners, B Capital, and Ola.

Today, Mswipe is a thriving tech company with a strong presence nationwide, providing stiff competition to big-shot digital payment companies like Razorpay and Cashfree.

The Significance of the Recent Funding

The 13 YO payment aggregator is on course to take over the Indian digital payment industry.

• The fresh capital investment will help Mswipe expand its merchant payment network and enhance its products and technology.

• The company will have access to full-stack payment technology - credits to the PA license acquisition. 

• This achievement allows Mswipe' to provide the most advanced technology to banking partners, enterprises, and merchants across diverse categories. 

Joining the ranks of other notable platforms like Zomato, Mswipe has received RBI approval to operate as an online payment aggregation platform. 

According to TheKredible, Mswipe reported a 13.69% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 274 crore in FY23, with profits at an EBITDA level for the last five quarters. Furthermore, its losses plunged by 45.36% to Rs 49 crore in FY23.

Although the company has achieved recent success, it had quite humble beginnings.

Humble Beginnings

Founded In 2011 by the visionary Manish Patel, Mswipe's vision was to transform the landscape of digital payments in India by making transactions smooth and flawless for business merchants across the country.

As an alcohol merchant (Sante Wines and Beer in Mumbai), he had difficulty transferring payments to retailers.

He identified a problem that most small and medium businesses used to face - inefficient card payment technology. 

The early days tested Manish's perseverance and resilience as he struggled to invent new ideas that would empower local merchants. 

Eventually, he launched Mswipe as a network provider that elevates small and medium-sized enterprises from tricky card-based payments to payments through mobile devices. 

The simplicity and efficiency of Mswipe's technology struck a chord with entrepreneurs across the country. However, the technology was still pricey for local merchants, and government regulations were stringent. 

"In payments, you have to be on top of regulations and certifications as it is a highly technical field," Manish explained.

Rise to Industry Leadership

The journey was not without its hurdles; however, Mswipe adapted and evolved. 

Mswipe managed to drastically and innovatively improve design, build quality, and testable low-cost mPOS and smartPOS within a few years. 

With a smarter digital payment technology, Mswipe transformed the payment game for small and medium-sized businesses, enabling every merchant to accept all payment modes with the lowest-cost Android devices. The payment was received within a couple of minutes of the transaction.

After identifying another flaw in the payment method linking, the digital payment company pivoted to further revolutionize the merchant payment industry by building an easy-to-use and highly affordable one-stop solution for all payment methods. 

"We built a single QR that supported all card brands, where merchants accept payments from any UPI app, get money in the bank account along with the card swipe settlement, check transaction history on the dashboard, and make daily purchases using the money-back card," Manish clarified.

With each challenge, the company refined its offerings, ensuring that it stayed at the forefront of the rapidly evolving fintech landscape.

Mswipe is currently the market leader in the small and medium businesses payment segment. Annually, it processes close to $5 billion in payments and serves merchants in 1,000 cities and towns nationwide.