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

Xflowa fintech startup in India, has received backing from Stripe and PayPal Ventures in a total of $16.6 million. The investment comes as the company works to pay the B2B margin, a market dominated by banks and book channels.

The Series A round was led by General Catalyst, with participation from existing investors Square Peg, Stripe, Lightspeed, and Moore Capital, while PayPal Ventures joined as a new backer. The full funding round values ​​the Bengaluru-based startup at $85 million post-investment and brings its revenue to $32 million to date.

Although rapid digitization of household paymentscross-border B2B transfers for Indian retailers become more dependent on banksoften little visible in the fees, the time of payment, and the final amount received in rupees. The debate is particularly difficult for exporters who are moving millions of dollars to India to support local payments and services, creating opportunities for fintech infrastructure players such as Xflow that promise greater transparency and speed in moving money around the world.

Launched in 2021, Xflow provides cross-border payment solutions to businesses ranging from exporters and SaaS companies to platforms and freelancers, enabling them to collect international funds, manage foreign funds, and set up investments in India.

“B2B cross-border payments are rooted in a different generation compared to UPI,” co-founder Anand Balaji (pictured above, center) said in an interview, referring to India’s most widely used instant payment network, Unified Payments Interface.

Balaji, who previously helped build Stripe’s India business, co-founded Xflow with former Stripe colleagues Ashwin Bhatnagar (pictured above, right) and Abhijit Chandrasekaran (pictured above, left).

Last year, Xflow said it helped Indian businesses collect money from more than 100 countries in more than 25 currencies. It did nearly $1 billion in cross-border payments last year, which shows a 10-fold growth from the same period in 2024, Balaji told TechCrunch.

According to the company, its customer base has grown to about 15,000 SaaS companies, global operations centers (which are offshore units that multinationals operate in India), IT service providers, freelancers, and fintech platforms.

The size of the transactions varies widely according to the sectors, with international opportunities about $1 million to $2 million in sales, wholesalers about $30,000 to $40,000, and independents about $3,000, according to Balaji.

Xflow is positioning itself as a payment provider rather than a direct payment provider, providing APIs that allow platforms and outsourcers to place cross-border payments on their products.

“We didn’t want to build one Wise – we want to control a thousand Wise,” said Balaji.

The startup has also introduced an AI-based currency conversion tool to help finance teams optimize currency conversion times. Xflow says the feature will bring more value to some customers through external data exchange options.

This tool allows businesses to set exchange rates instead of accepting existing bank funds. Balaji likened this feature to limit orders in trading – instructions to buy or sell at a specified price.

“What we’ve added is a predictive layer and the ability to set limits,” he said. The model currently offers a three-day forecast with about 92% confidence, Balaji said, although TechCrunch could not confirm that number.

Xflow faces competition from banks that still dominate large transfers at the B2B frontier, as well as fintech players such as Wise, Payoneer, and Skydo at the lower end of the market. But Balaji said the startup’s focus on value-added products and API-driven architecture set it apart from many competitors.

The startup plans to invest in new investments by building additional products on top of its core investments and acquiring licenses to enter new markets, Balaji said. Xflow plans to roll out purchasing power in the coming months and is pursuing licenses in markets including Singapore, where it has a payment license in Canada, although it is focusing on India as its first market.

Xflow said it has also received final approval from the Reserve Bank of India for its Payment Aggregator-Cross Border (PA-CB) license covering both domestic and international transactions. The startup has signed platform partnerships with Easebuzz and Drip Capital to leverage its cross-border capabilities on their offerings.

Backing by Stripe and PayPal Ventures, Balaji said, has helped strengthen the startup’s credibility with banks and regulatory agencies, even as they continue to work with multiple payers on transactions.

The startup currently has about 65 employees as it grows its cross-border business.