Gaurav Shisodia of Payoneer on India’s Export Boom: How SMBs Can Get Paid Faster and Grow Globally

In this exclusive interaction with StartupTalky, Gaurav Shisodia, VP & Country Manager of Payoneer India, shares insights on the resilience and growth of India’s services exports amid global uncertainty. He highlights key drivers such as the country’s large digital talent pool, strong infrastructure, and dependable delivery for international clients.

Shisodia discusses opportunities in AI, cloud services, cybersecurity, and professional services, while also sharing practical steps for Indian SMB exporters to simplify cross-border payments, manage currency risk, and use technology for faster, compliant cash flow. His perspective provides useful guidance for firms looking to grow in high-income markets.

StartupTalky: India’s services exports continue to grow despite global volatility. From your vantage point, what factors are driving this resilience, and where do you see the biggest opportunities for India’s digital and professional services exporters in 2026?

India’s services momentum remains resilient due to strong fundamentals: a deep pool of digital talent, reliable delivery for global clients, and more than a decade of steady investment in digital infrastructure. Even as global trade has seen periods of volatility, India’s services exports have continued to grow, with official data placing them at around $387.5 billion in FY 2024-25, up roughly 13-14% year-on-year, and the resulting services surplus helping to narrow the overall trade gap.

Looking ahead to 2026, major opportunities are set to emerge in AI and cloud services, cybersecurity, and customer experience with omnichannel support. Additional growth is expected in product-led SaaS, creative and marketing services, and specialised professional services such as design, engineering, legal, and finance. Much of this demand will continue to come from high-income markets such as North America, Europe, and the GCC. Firms that invest early in compliance-ready onboarding, multi-currency quote-and-collect capabilities, and a diversified corridor strategy will be best placed to capture this growth.

StartupTalky: Cross-border payments remain a working-capital bottleneck for MSMEs, even though MSME-linked products now contribute nearly half of India’s exports. What are the most persistent frictions you observe in the invoice-to-cash cycle for SMB exporters today?

For most small exporters, delays build up at very ordinary points in the cycle. They start when payment terms are negotiated, often with long credit periods. Then invoices move slowly through internal approval queues at the buyer’s end. On top of that, many shipments still have small inconsistencies between the invoice, packing list and contract, which trigger extra checks in a cross-border banking system that was never really designed around SMBs. When a payment is held for review, exporters usually have limited visibility into what is happening or how long it will take, and even after funds arrive, many still decide on FX one payment at a time, which keeps margins and cash flow unpredictable.

The encouraging shift we’re seeing is more SMBs moving to unified, digital ways of getting paid using a single account with local receiving details in multiple currencies and one dashboard for invoices, fees and expected INR credits so finance teams can see where each payment stands and plan working capital with far less guesswork.

StartupTalky: The Financial Stability Board notes that B2B cross-border settlements often still take more than one business day in many corridors. How is Payoneer working to improve speed, cost efficiency, and transparency in settlements for Indian businesses?

Small businesses operating across borders need speed and predictability when it comes to payments. Payoneer plugs Indian exporters into its existing global infrastructure, which provides coverage in 190+ countries and territories and routing via ~100 banking and payment-service partners globally.

For Indian exporters, this shows up in very practical ways: multi-currency receiving accounts in key buyer currencies, smart routing that uses faster local-clearing systems wherever possible, and selected lanes where settlement can be same-day or near real-time. On top of that, clear visibility into fees and FX before a transaction is completed, combined with a single dashboard showing real-time status and downloadable statements, gives finance teams a straightforward view of where their money is and makes reconciliation much simpler.

StartupTalky: With the India EFTA TEPA opening new high-income market access, what practical steps should Indian SMB exporters, especially in IT services and digital commerce, take to become “payments-ready” for these corridors?

For EFTA markets, “payments-ready” simply means being easy to pay, easy to clear, and easy to trust. Exporters should first decide when it makes sense to price in the buyer’s currency and then stick to clear, written terms on due dates, late fees, and dispute resolution. Contracts, invoices, and basic KYC details should all tell the same story so there are no gaps when a bank or platform reviews a payment. It also helps to start small, run a few low-value test invoices with new clients to see how quickly the money comes in and which payment routes work smoothly.

Over time, shorter initial payment terms, milestone-based billing for longer projects, and simple automated reminders can all reduce delays while the business learns the rhythm of these high-income markets.

StartupTalky: Smaller D2C and marketplace exporters now benefit from a more flexible courier-mode export framework. How can they strengthen pricing discipline, FX management, and compliance processes as they scale global shipments?

Smaller D2C and marketplace exporters are already benefiting from courier-mode rules, where low-value shipments move with lighter paperwork than regular cargo. As volumes grow, the risk is less about access and more about discipline. Successful sellers keep clear, all-in pricing per SKU, including duties, returns, platform fees, and shipping, so promotions don’t erode margins.

On FX, they can reduce costs by aligning collections and payments in the same currency and converting only as per permitted processes and requirements rather than on an ad hoc basis. Finally, maintaining a clean digital record that links each order to its shipment, payout, and export documents makes reconciliation easier, supports compliance, and enables confident scaling of global sales.

StartupTalky: Many young Indian firms quote in buyer currency to stay competitive. What guidance do you offer on currency risk management so exporters can protect margins from FX volatility?

For Indian exporters, quoting in the buyer’s currency can help win business, but it requires basic FX discipline to protect margins. A practical starting point is matching foreign-currency inflows with foreign-currency expenses such as software, marketing or contractor payments. Exporters can also set pricing guardrails, reviewing catalogue prices only when exchange rates move outside a defined range, instead of reacting to daily volatility. Conversions timed to cash-flow needs, with clear internal approvals for larger amounts and executed only through permitted processes, help avoid rushed FX decisions in volatile weeks.

Payoneer supports this approach by giving Indian businesses clear visibility into expected INR outcomes, fees and FX by corridor to support more predictable, compliant margin management.

StartupTalky: As technology adoption rises, where do you see AI, data visibility, and automation creating a step change in reconciliation, audit trails, and compliance across multiple jurisdictions?

As exporters add more markets, platforms, and partners, it becomes very hard to manage reconciliation and compliance purely by hand. AI and automation are already starting to change this. They can quietly match incoming payments to invoices, airway bills, and marketplace orders in the background, and use pattern recognition to flag only those items that genuinely need attention, instead of sending every minor discrepancy for manual review.

The other big shift is in record-keeping. Consistent, time-stamped logs and audit trails mean every transaction has a clear story from quote to settlement. That makes it easier to respond to questions from banks, regulators, auditors, or platforms in different countries. For Indian SMBs, the practical impact is fewer ad hoc spreadsheets, faster month-end closing, and greater confidence that cross-border payments are both compliant and easy to trace.

StartupTalky: From your experience with thousands of Indian exporters, what habits or operational practices distinguish those who are able to convert export growth into predictable and faster cash flow?

Exporters who turn growth into steady cash flow treat getting paid as seriously as winning the order. They plan for cash flow from the contract stage itself: breaking larger projects into milestones, invoicing as work is delivered, and using simple digital invoices with clear due dates and basic late-payment terms. On the operations side, they keep the basics tight: contracts, invoices and shipping documents match, which cuts down on questions and holds when a bank or platform reviews a transaction. They also likely avoid relying too heavily on a single buyer, marketplace or corridor.

Once habits like these are in place, using a regulated cross-border platform with simple invoicing tools and a single view of incoming payments makes it much easier to turn international demand into faster, more predictable cash inflows.