Who Backed Juspay’s Rise to Unicorn Status in 2026?

India’s fintech ecosystem has kicked off 2026 on a strong note with a major unicorn milestone. A Bengaluru-based payments infrastructure company has crossed the billion-dollar valuation mark after fresh funding, highlighting investor confidence in India’s digital payments and UPI-led growth story.

Why in News?

Juspay has become the first unicorn of 2026 after raising $50 million in a Series D follow-on funding round, taking its valuation to $1.2 billion.

Details of the Funding Round

• Juspay raised $50 million (around ₹415 crore) from WestBridge Capital through a mix of primary and secondary capital.
• The secondary component allowed early investors and employees holding ESOPs to gain liquidity. Before this round, the company was valued at nearly $900 million, indicating a sharp value jump.
• With this funding, Juspay has become India’s 127th unicorn, reinforcing the momentum in the country’s fintech sector.

Use of Funds and Global Expansion Plans

• The company plans to utilize the fresh capital to accelerate global expansion and deepen its technology capabilities.
• Juspay already operates across Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Latin America, Europe, the UK, and North America.
• The new funding will help scale enterprise-grade payment infrastructure and strengthen its position as a global payments technology provider, especially in markets adopting real-time digital payments.

Business Model and Core Offerings

• Founded in 2012 by Vimal Kumar, Sheetal Lalwani, and Ramanathan RV, Juspay provides end-to-end enterprise payment solutions.
• Its offerings include payment orchestration, payment infrastructure, and a full UPI technology stack.
• The company claims to process over 300 million transactions daily, with an annualised total payment volume (TPV) exceeding $1 trillion, making it one of the most critical backend players in India’s digital payments ecosystem.

Client Base and Industry Presence

• Juspay serves a wide range of global and Indian enterprises, including Agoda, Amazon, Flipkart, Google, HSBC, IndiGo, Swiggy, Zepto, and Zurich Insurance.
• Its strong client portfolio underlines trust in its scalable, secure, and high-performance payment infrastructure.

Key Summary at a Glance

Question

Q. Which Indian startup became the first unicorn of 2026?

A. Razorpay
B. Paytm
C. Juspay
D. PhonePe