PeLocal, a leading payment solutions provider, has secured $2 million in funding. Unicorn India Ventures led the funding round, boosting the startup’s mission to simplify e-commerce transactions via WhatsApp.
Over the past year, PeLocal increased its monthly transactions from 500,000 to three million. Now, it targets reaching 10 million transactions within the next 12 months.
The Chennai-based company plans to launch a marketing catalog and a dedicated payments platform for small businesses directly on WhatsApp.
“This is our maiden institutional funding…the deep expertise and strategic insights of Unicorn’s leadership will be invaluable as we continue to build on our growth momentum,” said Vivekanand Tripathi, founder of PeLocal.
Established in 2021, this fintech startup delivers seamless payment solutions through WhatsApp. It serves prominent clients like Delhi Metro, Indraprastha Gas, and Mahanagar Gas. Additionally, insurance companies use its platform to collect premiums. Tracxn data reveals PeLocal raised $1 million in seed funding in 2022.
“While the digital payment solutions are growing, there is still a need for a unique and simple digital payment solution for micro payments on the fly, which is what PeLocal is enabling through the WhatsApp platform,” said Anil Joshi, managing partner at Unicorn India Ventures.
Moving forward, the startup aims to expand WhatsApp-based payment services to cover ticketing and utility bill payments, addressing evolving customer needs.
