MUMBAI: Payments infrastructure startup Juspay has raised a fresh $50 million in funding from new investor WestBridge Capital at a valuation of $1.2 billion, becoming the first unicorn of the year. The investment includes a mix of primary and secondary transactions, the company said in a statement on Friday. In a secondary deal, a firm’s shares change hands among investors, allowing early backers to seek partial or full exit from their investments. “The secondary component provides liquidity to early investors and employees holding Esops—the second such opportunity Juspay has enabled within a year,” the startup said without disclosing details. Founded in 2012, Juspay operates in the enterprise payment solutions space, powering payments for merchants and banks worldwide. The company, backed by blue-chip investors SoftBank and Accel had bagged $60 million in funding led by Kedaara Capital in April last year, at a valuation of around $900 million. The startup which counts Google, Amazon and Flipkart among its clients claims to process more than 300 million daily transactions with its annualised total payment volumes (TPV) now exceeding $1 trillion. While there has been a funding revival for startups with several small and mid-sized deals in the works, investors continue to be selective, writing cheques for firms that have a sound business model and are being able to show growth. “The funding follows a continued growth for Juspay,” the company said, adding that the firm is advancing its AI capabilities to build future ready innovations for improving workforce productivity and merchant experience. The startup is building foundational payments infrastructure for global commerce that is open-source and interoperable. It posted its first year of profitability in FY25. “Their focus on solving deep-tech problems in payments while maintaining a sustainable, profitable growth trajectory differentiates them in the fintech space,” said Deepak Ramineedi, partner at WestBridge Capital.
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