Today In Payments Around The World: Razorpay Lands $100M In Series D Round; India Responds To Pandemic With Stimulus

In today’s top payments news around the world, Indian upstart Razorpay reached unicorn status after notching $100 million in Series D funding, while India has debuted a multibillion-dollar plan to boost consumer spending. Plus, shares of Poland’s Allegro took off during its initial public offering (IPO).

Razorpay Hits Unicorn Status Following $100M Series D

Razorpay entered the unicorn club after landing $100 million in a Series D funding round. The funding will be harnessed to grow the firm’s labor force and bolster its Razorpay neobanking platform as well as its Razorpay Capital lending arm. Razorpay was rolled out by Harshil Mathur and Shashank Kumar and born out of a crowd-funding effort. The upstart received much attention after its selection for the Y Combinator accelerator program.

India Responds To Coronavirus With Multibillion-Dollar Stimulus

India has introduced a multibillion-dollar blueprint to bolster consumer spending in an economy grappling with the burden of a spiraling number of COVID-19 cases. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman debuted plans by the federal government to put $6.6 billion into the sagging economy via spending measures. The government will provide federal employees with $1.6 billion in allowances and advances, who would have to spend the extra pay on nonessential items prior to the close of March as the centerpiece of the effort.

Poland’s Allegro Triumphs As Stock Takes Off In Public Debut

Shares of Allegro took off in its public debut, with its newly-minted stock reportedly spiking in value by 50 percent. The firm was started over two decades ago, providing services like eBay’s. Its website attracts 20 million visitors monthly. Allegro’s IPO success comes after an uptick in successful IPOs in the United States in addition to a rush of shoppers’ retail dollars into online shopping amid COVID-19.

G7 Set To Oppose Facebook Libra Over Lack Of Regulations

Facebook’s potential Libra cryptocurrency is anticipated to receive pushback from G7 officials who are expected to publicly be against the project because of a lack of regulations. The draft will be presented on Tuesday (Oct. 13) during a gathering of central bankers and finance ministers from Canada, the U.S., Germany, Japan, Italy, France and Britain.