Bengaluru-based cross-border payment startup Skydo has raised $5 million (approximately INR 41 crore) in a Pre-Series A funding round led by existing investor Elevation Capital, alongside participation from a group of undisclosed angel investors.
Skydo plans to use the fresh capital to scale its operations and strengthen its risk monitoring and compliance infrastructure. The startup also aims to expand globally by acquiring payment licenses in various international markets.
This marks the second equity investment for Skydo, following a $5 million funding round led by Elevation Capital in 2022. Founded in 2022 by Movin Jain and Srivatsan Sridhar, Skydo offers cross-border payment solutions that enable businesses to open international collection accounts through its global banking partners. The company claims to reduce foreign exchange charges for businesses by over 50%.
Skydo is currently awaiting approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a payment aggregator cross-border license, which would allow it to offer domestic merchant payment services. The startup currently processes payments for over 6,000 small and midsize businesses (SMBs) in India.
The funding comes at a time of heightened activity in India’s cross-border payment sector, with several startups securing funding and licenses. Last month, fintech companies BillDesk, Amazon Pay India, and global payments giant Adyen received RBI approval to operate as cross-border payment aggregators.
Additionally, Bengaluru-based fintech firm Cashfree Payments recently became the first entity to receive the RBI’s Payment Aggregator Cross Border (PA-CB) license, allowing it to process online transactions for the import and export of goods and services.
In a related development, cross-border fintech platform HiWi raised INR 7.25 crore in a Pre-Seed funding round in October 2023, led by Unicorn India Ventures and the Unmaj Group Family Office.
According to a report by Inc42, the Indian fintech space is projected to become a $2.1 trillion market opportunity by 2030.