Indian fintech startup RapiPay has raised INR650m ($9m) in a Series A equity funding round to offer forex solutions in the country.

The funding came from non-finance background investors such as consumer goods giant Dabur, Havells promoter Sheela Foam and noted surgeon Naresh Trehan.

Dalmia Bharat Group’s Puneet Dalmia, ORG Investments and energy company ACME also participated in the funding round.

RapiPay will use the fresh funds to set up branches in major cities and offer foreign exchange, overseas remittances, multicurrency prepaid forex travel card, and overseas travel insurance.

RapiPay is also backed by Capital India Finance (CIF) – a micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) lender with INR5bn worth loan book.

CIF also operates a remittance subsidiary. It is an authorised dealer licence holder from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to conduct foreign exchange business, which it aims to expand.

Capital India Finance executive chairman Harsh Kumar said: “Even non-finance entities are showing interest in the digital space considering the opportunity created post-Covid.

“Trehan was the first investor investing in the promising business model of RapiPay that has identified the assisted payments space as a way forward to increase financial inclusion in the country.”

Founded in 2009, RapiPay helps people execute basic banking transactions, and provides agent-based payment solutions for businesses.

Its services include money transfer, bill payments, cash withdrawal, Aadhaar-enabled payment system (AEPS), and more.

The company has nearly 125,000 agents across 12,000 locations. It conducts nearly 350,000 transactions daily, according to its website.

RapiPay claims that in last one year its transactions increased by over 40 times from INR740m during Q4 2019 to INR36.93bn in Q4 2020.

Last month, the India-based digital lending and payments startup True Balance secured $28m in Series D funding round to expand its services in the home market.