Digital payment company ItzCash has raised about ₹800 crore from US-based Ebix Inc, a Nasdaq-listed international supplier of on-demand software and e-commerce services. Post this deal, EBix will own about 80 per cent of ItzCash. With this, ItzCash’s total funding since inception is pegged at about ₹1,200 crore and the company is now valued at ₹1,000 crore.
The latest round also saw exits by ItzCash’s early investors Matrix Partners and Intel Capital at about 3x to 5x returns, company’s founder Naveen Surya told BusinessLine .
With a new strategic partner, ItzCash has now become a payment solutions exchange from a prepaid wallet and payment company, he added.
Currently, ItzCash focuses on payments, remittances and corporate solutions. It entered into PoS solutions after demonetisation. However, with Ebix, it plans to foray into credit, insurance, healthcare and investments.
“With the new funding in place, we plan to enter into new business areas and segments within the financial sector. Besides, we are planning to expand our reach both in India as well as to the countries where EBix has a presence,” Surya said adding that the idea is to venture into Brazil to start with.
Ebix is present in 40 countries including Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, UK and US among others.
“We are the only profitable company in the payment space today. Besides, with new businesses and expansion, we expect to grow at 50-60 per cent CAGR for the next couple of years,” said Bhavik Vasa, Chief Growth Officer at ItzCash.
“With the youngest tech-savvy society, the largest middle class, a 1.3-billion population, a country committed to going digital and a growth rate of 7 per cent plus, India is an emerging economic superpower today,” said Ebix Chairman, President and CEO Robin Raina.