'Soonicorns': Cashing in on e-payments surge, Pine Labs eyes Unicorn tag

In the third part of a series on soon-to-become Unicorns, we take a look at Pine Labs' business model

Pine Labs’ existence goes back to 1998, when dial-in was the most popular way of connecting to the Internet in the country and cash was perhaps the only mode for financial transactions.

But the digital payments company we see today was actually born in 2004 and evolved into its current shape in 2009 after the business model was tweaked several times over the years.

Its business model got a big ratification in 2009 after global venture capital firm Sequoia Capital invested just $1 million into the company. Since then, there has been no looking back.

In May this year, when