AI-driven fintech startup Pelocal has secured $5 million in a Series A round led by UNLEASH Capital Partners and Unicorn India Ventures, with participation from prominent angel investors. The fresh capital will be used to accelerate product development, expand use cases, and drive go-to-market efforts.
Funding Snapshot
- Amount: $5 million (Series A)
- Lead Investors: UNLEASH Capital Partners, Unicorn India Ventures
- Previous Round: $2 million seed (October 2024)
- Use of Funds: Product development, market expansion, enterprise adoption
Founded in 2021 by Vivekanand Tripathi and Vikas Garg, Pelocal offers an AI-powered payments orchestration platform that enables enterprises to acquire, engage, and collect from customers seamlessly on WhatsApp. Serving India’s 700 million active OTT chat users, the platform integrates payments directly into conversations and supports ticketing, collections, customer acquisition, and servicing. It is also building enterprise-grade tech infrastructure products for BFSI clients.
Pelocal currently serves over 40 large enterprises across BFSI, transit, and utilities, catering to more than 5 million monthly unique users. Since its seed round, the startup has achieved 6x growth in total payment value, operating at an annualized payment run rate exceeding $500 million.
“Our vision is to bring last-mile payments to the masses via WhatsApp, leveraging AI and advanced technologies,” said Vivekanand Tripathi, CEO of Pelocal. “This fundraise will help us execute that mission with investors who share our conviction.”
The company targets an ARR of $10 million over the next 18–24 months, positioning itself as a key player in conversational payments and embedded financial services.
Final Take
Pelocal’s Series A highlights the growing market for AI-enabled, conversational payment solutions in India, reflecting strong enterprise demand and the scalability of WhatsApp-based fintech platforms.
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