Stripe, PayPal Ventures bet on India’s Xflow to fix cross-border B2B payments

Source: TechCrunch

Funding Round

• Investors: Stripe, PayPal Ventures, General Catalyst (lead), Square Peg, Lightspeed, Moore Capital, and existing investors.
• Amount: $16.6 million (all‑equity Series A).
• Post‑money valuation: $85 million.
• Total funding to date: > $32 million.

Market Context

• Domestic payments in India are rapidly digitising, but cross‑border B2B transfers for Indian exporters remain bank‑centric, with limited visibility into fees, settlement timelines, and final rupee amounts.
• Larger exporters moving millions of dollars into India for salaries and operations face significant friction, creating an opening for fintech infrastructure providers that can deliver greater transparency and speed.

Company Overview

• Founded: 2021, Bengaluru.
• Founders: Anand Balaji (former Stripe India lead), Ashwin Bhatnagar, Abhijit Chandrasekaran.
• Mission: Provide cross‑border payment infrastructure for exporters, SaaS firms, platforms, freelancers, and global capability centers (GCCs).

Product & Technology

• API‑first platform that enables businesses to:

  • Collect international payments in > 25 currencies from > 100 countries.
  • Manage foreign‑exchange (FX) conversion.
  • Settle funds in India.

• AI‑based FX tool:

  • Allows users to set target conversion rates (limit‑order style).
  • Provides a three‑day forecast with ~92 % confidence (self‑reported).

• Positioning: Not a direct payments app; aims to “power the next thousand Wis​es” by offering the underlying infrastructure.

Business Metrics

• Annualised cross‑border volume (2025): ~ $1 billion (≈ 10× growth YoY).
• Customer base: ~ 15,000 businesses, including SaaS firms, GCCs, IT services exporters, freelancers, and fintech platforms.
• Typical transaction sizes:
  • GCCs: $1 M–$2 M
  • Goods exporters: $30 k–$40 k
  • Freelancers: ≈ $3 k

Competition

• Banks: Still dominate large‑value B2B transfers.
• Fintech rivals: Wise, Payoneer, Skydo (focus on lower‑value segment).
• Differentiation: Emphasis on high‑value transactions and API‑led infrastructure rather than a consumer‑facing app.

Future Plans & Expansion

• Deploy new capital to build additional products on top of the core payments stack.
• Pursue regulatory licences in new markets (e.g., Singapore) while already holding a payments licence in Canada.
• Roll out import capabilities in the coming months.
• Recently obtained RBI Payment Aggregator–Cross Border (PA‑CB) licence covering both exports and imports.

Partnerships & Ecosystem

• Platform integrations with Easebuzz and Drip Capital to embed cross‑border capabilities.
• Backing from Stripe and PayPal Ventures enhances credibility with banking and regulatory partners.

Team

• Approximately 65 employees as the company scales its cross‑border infrastructure business.