Razorpay, a Bangalore fintech unicorn, has made its first international acquisition into South-East Asia, purchasing a majority stake in Curlec, a leading Malaysian fintech startup. According to Harshil Mathur, Razorpay’s CEO and co-founder, the deal valued the company at $19-$20 million. This is Razorpay’s fourth acquisition in total, the first outside of India, and it will allow the company to expand its products and services to Malaysian businesses. The company’s official handout stated that, while e-commerce is currently expanding in Malaysia, with an expected market size of $21 billion in 2021, an industry analysis predicts that it will increase to over $35 billion by 2025, fueled by the introduction of new mobile payment methods.
“We at Razorpay are ecstatic to welcome Curlec on board as we take our first move toward expanding in Southeast Asia. Our entry to the Southeast Asia payments market is timed perfectly to coincide with the company’s rising dominance in all things payments, thanks to our enormous experience in a heterogeneous market like India over the previous seven years,” said Harshil Mathur, CEO and Co-Founder of Razorpay.
Curlec is a Kuala Lumpur-based startup that creates recurring payment solutions for modern businesses of all kinds. The company now works with a number of companies in Malaysia, including AXA Insurance, Funding Societies, and Axiata Digital. Since its debut in 2018, the company’s annual revenue has increased by approximately 5x, thanks to the support of 500 Global and other investors.
“We’re ecstatic to be collaborating with Harshil, Shashank, and the Razorpay team. We’ve always admired what they’ve accomplished in India and have a shared aim of developing payment and banking solutions from the ground up for any business. We look forward to the next step of our adventure and scaling together across Malaysia and Southeast Asia,” said Curlec‘s Co-Founder and CEO, Zac Liew.
Malaysian shoppers are more open to cross-border shopping, with cross-border transactions accounting for 40% of all online transactions. Razorpay feels that, with the influx of new e-commerce customers, a greater range of payment services is required. An acquisition like this will open new pathways for global commercial expansion for internet enterprises operating in India and Malaysia, the company believes.
