Rewards and loyalty startup Twid raises $12 million in funding led by Rakuten Capital.
Synopsis
Google, JAFCO Asia, January Capital, ICMG Partners, Reddy Futures Fund and existing investors Beenext and Surge, the accelerator programme of Sequoia Capital India, also participated in the funding round.
By ETtech
Rewards and loyalty startup Twid has raised $12 million as part of its Series A round led by Rakuten Capital.
The company said it would use the funds to grow its merchant acceptance network, hire more talent across data science and analytics functions as well as drive further technological innovation.
The company is also planning to double its headcount by the end of the current fiscal year.
Founded in 2020, Twid brings together different rewards points systems across issuers to a single platform. With Twid, consumers can access their entire rewards points from banks, brands, travel, and dining on one platform and make payments for their daily spends.
The platform works with payment gateways and payment providers to integrate its solution and allow users to use their rewards for payments.
Twid’s rewards platform has an acceptance network across 100,000 online and offline merchants, the company said.
“With the fundraising, we will primarily continue our focus on growing our network and the rewards piece for the coming months. We will also look to drive more innovation for issuers and look at providing products and platforms to merchants to boost their growth,” Amit Koshal, founder and chief executive of Twid, told ET.
According to Koshal, the company has 40 million registered users at present.
As part of the transaction, Rakuten India CEO Sunil Gopinath will join the Twid board.
“Rakuten Capital sees tremendous potential and future synergies in this investment. Given our global membership products are developed here in Bengaluru by Rakuten India, I'm thrilled to join the Twid board of directors and look forward to working with (cofounders) Amit Koshal, Rishi Batra, Amit Sharma and their very capable team to transform the way reward points are used in India,” Gopinath said.
In June last year, fintech player BharatPe had announced the acquisition of multi-brand loyalty platform, Payback India, to roll out rewards and loyalty programmes for customers. In April 2021, merchant payments platform Pine Labs also announced the acquisition of Singapore-based loyalty cashback startup Fave for $45 million, to enter the consumer payments category.
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Google, JAFCO Asia, January Capital, ICMG Partners, Reddy Futures Fund and existing investors Beenext and Surge, the accelerator programme of Sequoia Capital India, also participated in the funding round. Elevate Your Tech Prowess with High-Value Skill Courses
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The company is also planning to double its headcount by the end of the current fiscal year.
Founded in 2020, Twid brings together different rewards points systems across issuers to a single platform. With Twid, consumers can access their entire rewards points from banks, brands, travel, and dining on one platform and make payments for their daily spends.
The platform works with payment gateways and payment providers to integrate its solution and allow users to use their rewards for payments.
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Twid’s rewards platform has an acceptance network across 100,000 online and offline merchants, the company said.
“With the fundraising, we will primarily continue our focus on growing our network and the rewards piece for the coming months. We will also look to drive more innovation for issuers and look at providing products and platforms to merchants to boost their growth,” Amit Koshal, founder and chief executive of Twid, told ET.
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According to Koshal, the company has 40 million registered users at present.
As part of the transaction, Rakuten India CEO Sunil Gopinath will join the Twid board.
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“Rakuten Capital sees tremendous potential and future synergies in this investment. Given our global membership products are developed here in Bengaluru by Rakuten India, I'm thrilled to join the Twid board of directors and look forward to working with (cofounders) Amit Koshal, Rishi Batra, Amit Sharma and their very capable team to transform the way reward points are used in India,” Gopinath said.
In June last year, fintech player BharatPe had announced the acquisition of multi-brand loyalty platform, Payback India, to roll out rewards and loyalty programmes for customers. In April 2021, merchant payments platform Pine Labs also announced the acquisition of Singapore-based loyalty cashback startup Fave for $45 million, to enter the consumer payments category.
