Cross border payments platform HiWiPay raises $2 Million in seed round led by Unicorn India Ventures

HiWiPay, a next-generation cross-border payments platform revolutionizing international remittances for students, parents, and businesses has raised $2 Million in a seed round led by Unicorn India Ventures. The round also saw participation from Dewang Neralla's family office and Jupiter Metaverse LLP along with other well known angels - Dr. Ritesh Malik, Mr. Mitesh Shah, and Mr. Nilesh Doshi. Funds raised will be used to expand and enhance the trade remittance business, as well as to scale up operations in the education remittances sector.

Founded by Fintech veteran Dewang Neralla along with Geeta Chauhan and Ujwal Tamminedi, HiWiPay is a cross-border payments platform that offers a seamless digital experience, eliminating paperwork hassles and ensuring secure, compliant transactions.

The cross-border payment landscape is afflicted with problems due to lack of transparency in exchange rates, perceived high forex margins, due diligence, compliance requirements & documentation challenges, HiWiPay’s mission is to streamline these processes across various sectors and industries confronted with intricate procedures. The platform provides competitive exchange rates and real-time tracking, making global payments effortless. Led by a team of fintech experts, HiWiPay is redefining the future of cross-border transactions with innovation and transparency.

Dewang Neralla, Co-founder HiWiPay, "Securing this funding is a significant milestone for HiWiPay as we continue our mission to revolutionize cross-border payments. This investment fuels our commitment to innovation, enabling us to enhance our platform, expand our reach, and deliver a frictionless experience for students and businesses globally. We are grateful for the trust our investors have placed in us and look forward to driving the next phase of growth."

In the last 12 months, the company's education portal for study abroad consultants has seen significant transaction activity, with over 500 consultants onboarded and actively facilitating student remittances. The Company is also introducing HiWiPay student app in the UK with an aim to build their presence in key hubs across Europe. The company has partnered with multiple banks and NBFCs to help individuals secure education loans, making studying abroad more accessible and achievable.

Cross-Border Payment Solutions: Empowering Global Trade

Discover the importance of efficient and cost-effective cross-border payment solutions and understand how they facilitate global trade and commerce.

StartupTalkyMuskaan Kapoor

HiWiPay plans to enter the SME trade remittance space, expanding beyond student payments and is slated to launch co-branded forex cards and other financial services to cater to students.

Commenting on the investment, Anil Joshi, Managing Partner, Unicorn India Ventures, says, "There are major complexities of cross-border transactions and HiWiPay is tapping into this potential to make the process much easier. We have witnessed significant growth and believe HiWiPay’s highly innovative business model is ripe for disruption because of changing customer demands, emerging market growth, and financial inclusion. HiWiPay has been working tirelessly in that direction to meet the growing demand and the funding will help the company scale its services to a more advanced stage.”

The company has also developed a portal that enables exporters to seamlessly collect payments with all necessary documentation in place. Over time, the company plans to build a similar portal for importers to facilitate smooth payment transactions. HiWiPay’s goal is to become a global payment orchestrator, empowering SME exporters and importers to carry out remittance services efficiently.

In the next 12 – 18 months, HiWiPay plans to on-board 5,000 international students on the HiWiPay Student App. The company expects its transaction volume to $100 million in remittances and double the network of education consultants to 1,000. HiWiPay also plans to support 1,000 SME exporters with trade remittance solutions and strengthening banking partnerships to improve FX rates and payment efficiency.

About Unicorn India Ventures:

Started in 2016 by Bhaskar Majumdar and Anil Joshi, Unicorn India Ventures is a technology focused early-stage venture fund that invests in emerging and visionary startups. Unicorn India Ventures launched its first fund with a corpus of Rs 100 crore and invested in 17 companies like SmartCoin, Open Bank, Sequretek, Pharmarack, Genrobotics, Clootrack, FutureCure to mention some. The Fund has emerged as the best performing early stage fund in India with the stellar exits provided by the fund to its LPs.

Fund II is a Rs 300 Cr fund launched in 2020 that has invested in 20 companies so far like Gamerji, Probus, Daalchini, Windo, HiWi. Most of the portfolio is scaling up fast and has had several uprounds.

Unicorn India Ventures is closing its Rs 1000 Cr Fund III. The first close was reached at Rs 225 crore. The Fund is expected to reach its final close this year.  With this Fund, UIV aims to build a portfolio of 20 startups that are focused mostly in the deep tech sector that includes semiconductor, space tech, and medical diagnostics apart from SaaS and India digital platforms. Unicorn has already made 12 investments from this fund and includes companies like Netrasami, Qubehealth, Orbitaid, Aurassure amongst others.