Cashfree Payments India Pvt. Ltd is in talks to raise $80-100 million through a mix of fresh funding and purchases of existing shares, according to three people familiar with the fintech’s fundraising plans.
While the size of the round and the split between fresh capital and purchases of existing shares remain unclear, the valuation is likely to be unchanged, one of the persons said.was last valued at about $700 million in a 2025 funding round.
Cashfree raised $53 million, or about ₹450 crore, Series C funding round on 5 February 2025, led by Krafton, with participation from existing investor Apis Growth Fund II, managed by London-based Partners.
In the new round, Krafton Inc. would increase its stake, while Apis Partners Ltd would sell most of its holding, retaining a small stake.
“Apis is seeking an exit because the investment vehicle that backed Cashfree is nearing the end of its lifecycle,” the person added.
Apis first invested in Cashfree in November 2020 through Apis Growth Fund II, announcing a $35 million minority investment. Cashfree’s other backers include Y Combinator, Smilegate, State Bank of India, 9Yards Capital, Trifecta Capital and Stride Ventures.
“Cashfree is in discussions to raise a new funding round which would be upwards of $100 million. As with most growth-stage rounds of this size, it is expected to include a secondary component alongside fresh ,” said co-founder Reeju Datta, refusing to comment on investors’ plans.
Improving business
The discussions come as Cashfree’s revenue has recovered after a year of little growth, while losses have narrowed. Revenue rose about 52% to ₹972 crore in fiscal year 2025-26 from ₹641 crore a year ago, according to the financial figures sourced from data platform Tracxn. Revenue had slipped marginally in FY25 from ₹645 crore in FY24.
Cashfree’s net loss narrowed to ₹118 crore from ₹154 crore, even as total expenses rose to ₹1,090 crore from ₹795 crore. Employee expenses fell to ₹239 crore from ₹243 crore.
Its loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization narrowed to ₹90.5 crore from ₹131 crore. The company, however, remained loss-making.
Krafton is also willing to consider a bridge round while waiting for Cashfree’s business to grow, the second person said.
“They’re expecting that it’ll boost their transaction volumes as well as their margins,” the person said, referring to the introduction of merchant discount rate, or MDR, on specified Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions.
MDR is the processing fee merchants pay for accepting payments. Under the framework announced in September, a 0.4% fee will apply to specified UPI merchant payments above ₹2,000, capped at ₹300 per transaction, from 15 October.
Consumers will not be charged, while person-to-person transfers and merchant payments up to ₹2,000 will remain free. However, some exemptions and lower rates apply to some merchant categories.
The revenue opportunity extends beyond consumer-facing apps. Banks and merchant-acquiring businesses, including payment aggregators, also participate in processing these transactions.
The government’s framework envisages supporting investment across the payments ecosystem, although Cashfree’s eventual benefit will depend on the eligibility of its transactions and on its commercial arrangements with banking partners.
About Cashfree
Founded in 2015 by Akash Sinha and Reeju Datta, Cashfree went through Y Combinator’s programme in 2017. Cashfree holds Reserve Bank of India authorizations to operate as a domestic payment aggregator and a cross-border payment aggregator for imports and exports. A payment aggregator collects payments on behalf of merchants and handles their settlement.
Cashfree’s corporate structure has included a US holding company, Cashfree Inc., above its Indian operating company, Cashfree Payments India Pvt. Ltd. A 2021 US Securities and Exchange Commission filing identified Cashfree Inc. as incorporated in Delaware.
Its products extend beyond the payment gateway businesses use to accept online payments. Cashfree offers bulk payouts, recurring payments, payment links, split settlements for marketplaces, cross-border collections and identity-verification tools. Its application programming interfaces, or APIs, let businesses integrate these services into their own software.
Cashfree said in February 2025 that it processed $80 billion in payments annually and served 800,000 businesses.
The fintech startup competes with Razorpay, Juspay, Pine Labs, BillDesk and Paytm Payment Services, among others.