[Funding] YPay secures an undisclosed seed investment by Venture Catalysts

Venture Catalysts is one of India’s first and largest integrated incubator and accelerator. VC has recently invested an undisclosed amount in YPay. YPay is a digital payment platform for young kids and teen students in Tier 3 and below cities. Founded by Dr Navneet Gupta, the start-up is a digital payment platform that enables young teen students to gain financial literacy. They can learn as well as manage their personal spending. The app also empowers the whole family to monitor and assist their children’s development. Thus, it helps them learn about money management in a controlled manner and a safe environment.

It keeps the whole process very secure and safe. The app allows parents the option to set their kids’ daily spending limit, manage their allowances, block/unblock the card and choose the exact stores where they can spend the money. For every transaction/purchase made, parents receive notifications that keep them informed about the spending.

Through its unique SmartCard, YPay helps students adopt and conveniently manage digital payment for all purchases. These can include items like books, stationeries, canteen, school fee etc. It mainly focuses on merchants that students mostly approach. For example, the inside of schools and any hyperlocal market around schools. In the process, YPay aims to help hyperlocal businesses generate more revenue while providing kids with a real-world lesson in financial responsibility.

From the leaders

Speaking on the investment, Dr Navneet Gupta – Founder at YPay, said, “This is the first time we are raising funds and we are very thankful to Dr Apoorva Ranjan from Venture Catalyst and Mr Neeraj Tyagi from We Founders Circle for showing trust in us and investing in YPAY. We will be utilising these funds for technology, partnership, and expansion in 25 more cities.”

Dr Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Co-founder & President – Venture Catalysts, added, “Digital payment has become the heart and soul of our country’s economy. So it only makes sense that children should have financial literacy from a young age. It also made them understand the value of money and how to manage their finances. On the back of its unique IP, YPay is equipped to disrupt the USD 60 billion Indian school education market. It aims to allow students to digitally manage all school-premise transactions through its innovative smart card. Dr Gupta has a founding team with strong domain experiences and allied skill sets which, if harnessed effectively, can catapult the start-up to success in no time. The team has our full support as they set out on this new venture.”