Google backs one-year-old Indian startup DotPe in $27.5 million fundraise

Google’s latest investment in India is a startup that is helping businesses come online.

One-year-old DotPe, a Gurgaon-based startup, said on Friday it has raised $27.5 million in its Series A financing round. The round was led by PayU, with participation from existing investor Info Edge Ventures and Google.

The young startup, now valued at about $90 million, helps brick and mortar stores sell to customers online and collect payments digitally.

It’s a problem that scores of startups in India are solving today, but DotPe has some additional hooks. It helps merchants scan their inventories and quickly establish a log online.

Once the catalog is ready, a business can then make it available on WhatsApp and reach customers there. WhatsApp is the most popular smartphone app in India with over 450 million users. DotPe says it also helps businesses get visibility on Google Search.

The startup, co-founded by Shailaz Nag, formerly co-founder and managing director of PayU, also enables neighborhood stores to collect payments from walk-in customers and features tools to offer loyalty points and discounts to customers to boost engagement.

“This new partnership will empower businesses to be more discoverable, expand business avenues and conduct commerce like never before,” said Nag. “Pandemic or not, we are here to reimagine the way offline businesses work and bring the digital revolution to the doorstep of every entrepreneur.”

DotPe says its platform, which doesn’t require businesses to install an app, has amassed over 5 million merchants in the last six months. These merchants are seeing over 38% of daily orders from repeat customers, the startup said.

“In a very short time, DotPe has acquired a promising merchant base with its impeccable product experience and innovation,” said Anirban Mukherjee, CEO, PayU India.

Sanjay Gupta, VP and Country Head of Google India, said in a statement that the company’s investment in DotPe is illustrative of Google’s belief in “working with India’s start-up ecosystem towards the goal of building a more inclusive digital economy that will benefit everyone.”

Google announced a $10 billion fund for India last year, its biggest market by users. The Android-maker has invested in several startups in the country including hyperlocal delivery firm Dunzo, InMobi Group’s Glance, and DailyHunt.

DotPe said it will deploy the fresh capital to reach more merchants in India and scale its technology stack to meet the growing demand.