Paynear Solutions raises $2.5 million in pre-Series A round

This investment is part of the $10 million that Paynear is planning to raise in a Series-A round in the first quarter of the next financial year

Paynear Solutions Private Limited, a Hyderabad-based payment solutions start-up, has raised $2.5 million (around Rs 16.7 crore) in a pre-Series-A round of funding from serial entrepreneur-turned-investor Mitesh Majithia.

This investment is part of the $10 million that Paynear is planning to raise in a Series-A round from Majithia with participation from other new investors by the first quarter of the next financial year, Prabhu Ram, managing director and chief strategy officer at Paynear, told Business Standard.

Founded in early 2013, Paynear went live in November 2014 with mPay, a mobile point of sale (POS) solution designed for merchants and businesses of all sizes and verticals. With mPay, merchants can start accepting credit and debit cards through iOS and Android on tablets and smartphones. It currently has presence in 20 cities in India on more than 4,000 active devices.

"We are in a growth trajectory and this funding will help us in expanding to 50 more Indian cities, increase our technical capabilities and also grow our sales by March 2015," Ram said.

"mPOS and mobile payments are the next big thing and have a huge market potential in the Indian payment scenario. Paynear's expertise in the payment industry will revolutionise the way payments are made in India," Majithia, who joins Paynear's board as a director, said in a statement.