Mumbai-based fintech startup Pelocal announced on Tuesday that it has raised $5 million in a Series A funding round, led by UNLEASH Capital Partners, Unicorn India Ventures, and several angel investors. The funding will support the company’s efforts to scale its payments orchestration platform.
Founded in 2021, Pelocal allows enterprises to acquire, engage, and collect payments from customers directly via WhatsApp, which boasts over 700 million active users in India. The startup currently serves more than 40 large enterprises across banking, transit, and utilities, providing services to over 5 million users each month.
“Until now, digital communications have largely been limited to peer-to-peer messages or one-way notifications. Our vision is to bring last-mile payments to the masses via WhatsApp by leveraging AI and advanced technologies. This fundraise enables us to execute that mission, and we’re thrilled to have the support of investors who share our conviction,” said Vivekanand Tripathi, Founder and CEO, Pelocal, in a statement.
Vikas Garg, Co-founder of Pelocal, said, “With strong market demand and the backing of our investors, we’re committed to delivering world-class products at the intersection of payments, communication, and enterprise technology.”
“Pelocal is redefining how enterprises interact and transact with customers by embedding payments into conversational interfaces like WhatsApp. With AI at the core, the company is solving a large-scale problem for Indian businesses and has the potential to scale globally,” said Natsuki Sugai, Managing Partner at UNLEASH Capital Partners.
Anil Joshi, Managing Partner at Unicorn India Ventures, added, “The surge in conversational commerce and embedded payment solutions presents a massive opportunity, and Pelocal is well-positioned to lead this transformation.”
Pelocal, in October 2024, raised $2 million in a seed round led by Unicorn India Ventures.
