POP raises $2.4M seed funding from India Quotient, others to launch its UPI Play

Bengaluru-based POP has announced that it has closed a  $2.4 million seed funding round led by India Quotient and a few prominent angel investors.

The Bengaluru-based startup also announced that it had received approval as a Third-Party Application Provider (TPAP) from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to offer UPI payments via its POPclub app.

The startup has built its UPI stack in partnership with financial firms such as Yes Bank and Juspay. 

Purpose of fundraising

According to the company's statement, The funding will help expedite the implementation of various initiatives, including the POP UPI service that will enable users to earn POPcoins, a shopping currency already used by 200+ online merchants, with every UPI transaction made through the POPclub app. 

These POPcoins can be used to buy a wide range of products from all major direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands in categories such as beauty, personal care, electronics, fashion, and home goods- all housed within the POPclub app.

Leadership comments

Bhargav Errangi, Founder of POP, said, “POP's goal is to become the most sought-after go-to platform for payments and shopping for digitally active young Indians. As consumer behaviours evolve, we aim to provide innovative app experiences tailored to their interests in daily consumption."

Unlike other UPI players, POP emphasises a 2% value back (via POPcoins) for every UPI transaction.  

"POPcoins-led rewards offer a predictable and consistent reward promise compared to the luck-based and gamified models of other UPI apps. These POPcoins can be effectively used to purchase over 100,000 SKUs our target audience consumes. Our ambition is to position POPcoins as the shopping currency for purchasing the new-age products/services that resonate with evolving new-age Indian consumer preferences,” said Errangi, who has a track record of scaling Flipkart Supercoins in his previous role.

POP joins prominent players

POP joins prominent players like Google Pay, PhonePe, WhatsApp, CRED, and Paytm as a third-party app authorised to provide UPI payments.

Marketed as ‘Designed to reward,’ the POPclub UPI application is now rolled out with attractive launch offers and is now available to download on Google Play Store and Apple App Store. 

What do investors say?

Madhukar, General Partner at India Quotient, said, “Acquisition and retention are two most challenging problems for D2C and consumer brands. Very excited to partner with Bhargav and team to solve this very hard problem and enable thousands of consumer brands to acquire and retain customers at a fraction of current costs.”

Since its launch in early May 2023, POP has added over 200 brands to its network, including mCaffeine, HUL-owned Simple Skin Care, Adil Qadri, Anveshan, Two Brothers Organic Farms, and Epigamia.

These brands have adopted POP's rewards currency, POPcoins, replacing their traditional loyalty programs and points systems within the D2C world.

POPcoins claims to have engaged over four million customers within the network, and this number is expected to grow to over 500 brands and 10 million customers by the end of the year.