Google has invested $27.5 million in Indian payment platform Dotpe

Google Inc. (GOOG) recently invested in Dotpe, a young Indian payment platform valued at around $90 million that also helps brick-and-mortar stores sell to customers online and collect payments digitally.

Last year, it was reported that payments firm Payu and China’s Fosun International Group were also planning to invest in DotPe, an Indian payment platform that helps offline businesses find online catalogs, place in-store orders, pay online, and engage with customers. DotPe is the only Indian platform that has successfully penetrated the entire Indian landscape, from offline to online commerce, from businesspeople in rural India to large FnB companies.




Dotpe, A one-year-old startup based in Gurgaon, India (30 kilometers from New Delhi, one of India’s major economic and industrial cities and the country’s third largest capital inflow city), said it had raised $27.5 million in its Series A funding round.

The round was led by fintech company Payu and backed by local internet giants Info Edge Ventures and Google. The round, led by early investor PayU, Prosus’ payment and fintech business, led to an increase in the company’s existing stake.



Dozens of start-ups in India are doing the same thing, but DotPe is different: it helps merchants scan inventory and quickly build online catalogs. Once the catalog is ready, businesses can use it on WhatsApp and interact with customers and take orders there. WhatsApp is the most popular mobile app in India, with more than 450 million users. Dotpe says it can increase your visibility in Google searches.




Dotpe, which was founded by Payu’s former co-founder and managing director Shailaz Nag, also enables neighborhood stores to collect money from customers as they walk through the door, and provides tools to offer loyalty points and discounts to customers to enhance customer engagement.

Google last year announced a 10-billion-dollar fund for India, the company’s largest user market. The tech giant has invested in a number of start-ups in India, including Dunzo, a neighborhood delivery company, Glance, an artificial intelligence platform owned by mobile advertising company InMobi Group, and Daily Hunt, a software for news aggregators.

Dotpe said it will use the new funds to acquire more business people in India and expand its technology to meet growing demand.