Kiwi has secured Rs 208.5 crore ($24 million) in Series B funding to expand its UPI-linked credit card services across the country.
The round was led by Vertex Ventures, with participation from existing backers Nexus Ventures, Stellaris Venture Partners, and Omidyar Network. Regulatory filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) reveal that Vertex Ventures SEA Fund V Pte Ltd. invested Rs 113.2 crore, followed by Rs 47.5 crore from Nexus Ventures VI Holdings LLC and Rs 34.9 crore from Stellaris Venture Partners India Trust II.
Omidyar Network’s Mauritius arm contributed Rs 12.8 crore. A total of 20,251 Series B CCPS shares were allotted during the transaction.
Founded by Siddharth Mehta, Mohit Bedi, and Anup Agrawal, Kiwi is building infrastructure at the convergence of credit cards and UPI payments. Kiwi issues digital RuPay credit cards through a strategic partnership with Axis Bank, allowing users to link their cards to UPI for seamless digital transactions.
A licensed third-party app provider (TPAP) under the UPI framework, Kiwi has already processed 5.8 lakh merchant transactions across over 586 cities in India, reflecting the growing appetite for flexible digital credit options.
The Series B round follows the company’s previous raises, $13 million in Series A funding in November 2023, led by Omidyar Network India, and $6 million in seed capital in May 2023.
With this latest infusion, Kiwi’s total funding now stands at approximately $43 million.
This fundraising comes amid a broader shift in consumer payment behaviour. Credit card transactions routed through UPI are gaining rapid traction, especially among urban users.
According to Dilip Asbe, MD & CEO, NPCI, 16 per cent of India’s total credit card spending now occurs via the RuPay network, with nearly half of those transactions enabled through UPI.
The rise of UPI-linked credit cards is being driven by several macro trends, increasing smartphone usage, deepening internet penetration, and India’s expanding FinTech ecosystem, which is projected to grow into a $2.1 trillion market by 2030.
Startups like Kiwi are positioning themselves at the forefront of this digital payment evolution. The momentum has also led to consolidation in the space, most notably, Zaggle’s acquisition of Rio.
Money last month, signalling intensified competition in the UPI-powered credit card segment.
With fresh capital in hand, Kiwi is set to further scale its infrastructure, onboard new users, and deepen its footprint in a market that is fast embracing digital credit.
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