Amazon-backed payment solutions provider ToneTag on Tuesday said it has raised Rs 674 crore ($77.3 million) led by ValueQuest S.C.A.L.E. Fund with participation from Iron Pillar, Elevate Inflection Capital, and Elevate Innovation Partners, in a mix of primary and secondary capital.
The firm plans to use the funds to expand to new markets including Asia, South America and Middle East.
The latest funding comes seven years after the company raised $1.3 million from Tropical Star Ltd. Amazon and Mastercard had also invested in the firm the same year.
According to Tracxn, ToneTag had a valuation of $97.1 million as of November 2023.
India is home to 2,747 payment startups, including Razorpay, Paytm, PhonePe, BharatPe, and MobiKwik, according to data from Tracxn. Of these, 494 startups are funded, with 175 securing Series A+ funding and 10 achieving unicorn status.
The Indian payments sector has raised over $12.4 billion in funding over the past decade, with 2021 seeing a record $3.57 billion in investments.
Most recently, Indian digital payments firm Cashfree raised $53 million in a funding round led by South Korea’s Krafton Inc and UK-based private equity firm Apis Partners.
ToneTag, operated by Naffa Innovation, enables contactless payment solutions for businesses and processes over 30 million transactions daily. It features payment solutions using sound waves by integrating its proprietary software development kit (SDK) at both merchant (mobile, POS, EDC) and customer interaction points (M-Wallet, M-Banking Apps). It offers RetailPod that enables data communication and engagement services over sound waves.
