Bengaluru-based cross border payments startup Dodo has successfully raised $1.1 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Antler, 9Unicorns, and Venture Catalysts, alongside angel investors.
Nitin Gupta (Uni Cards, PayU), Maninder Gulati (former Oyo CSO/Lightspeed), Raymond Russell (former Chief of Staff at Boom Supersonic), Preethi Kasireddy (former Partner at a16z), and Nishant Verman (former Flipkart CorpDev head) participated with angel cheques.
The company’s last funding round closed on July 1, 2024.
Founded in 2023 by Rishabh Goel and Ayush Agarwal, Dodo Payments is addressing the challenges digital-first businesses face in processing international payments by enabling merchants to accept payments from over 150 countries, boasting success rates exceeding 90%. Additionally, Dodo Payments is the only solution powering global marketplaces for non-US entities.
“In today’s evolving digital economy, businesses in emerging markets often face barriers when engaging in cross-border transactions. At Dodo Payments, we are committed to dismantling these obstacles by providing a seamless and compliant payment infrastructure,” says Rishabh Goel, Co-founder and CEO of Dodo Payments.
He also emphasized that this investment not only validates their mission but also equips with the resources to improve the platform’s capabilities, highlighting the company’s that the merchants can thrive in the global marketplace.
“Dodo Payments is addressing a critical gap in the international payment ecosystem. Their innovative approach not only streamlines transactions but also ensures compliance, making them a formidable player in the market,” says Nitin Sharma, Partner at Antler.
They are also expanding the global footprint by establishing local payment rails in over 30 countries, focusing on key regions such as the European Union, United Kingdom, Southeast Asia, Middle East, Brazil, and Australia. The platform currently supports over 25 local payment methods, including Apple Pay, Klarna, Affirm, Cash App, UPI, and all major card networks, and is available in 14 languages, covering 86% of the global population.
To ensure security and compliance, Dodo Payments is PCI-DSS compliant and aims to achieve global certifications, including SOC 2, GDPR, and ISO standards.
In its initial phase, the company has boarded over 1,000 merchants across 30 countries and plans to expand to more than 10,000 merchants globally by the end of the year.
