“ePaylater”, a zero-cost credit solution, was conceptualized and nurtured by a trio of industry veterans – Aurko Bhattacharya (Co-founder), Akshat Saxena (Co-founder), and Uday Somayajula (Co-founder) to empower SMEs by providing them with simple, transparent and innovative solutions which can help them manage their businesses more efficiently.
At the helm of the company, Aurko, Akshat, and Uday are revolutionizing the industry with “ePaylater” through accelerated innovation and excellent supervision. They are providing a zero-cost credit solution to small business enterprises like Kirana shops, wholesalers, distributors, etc., spread across 100+ cities in the country and have disbursed over Rs 1700 crores in facilitating inventory purchases.
This solution is available to retailers across physical and digital sales channels and empowers SMEs to purchase inventory across product categories at the best available prices without being constrained for credit. The innovative venture helps retailers manage their cash flows efficiently, increase sales and increase their profit margins. It also helps reduce the trust deficit that typifies digital B2B commerce as buyer obligation to pay arises only after goods are physically received, with a further period of 14 days of interest-free credit.
The company works closely with B2B majors like Reliance Jiomart, Metro Cash and Carry, Flipkart Wholesale, BigBasket, etc., and with large FMCG brand distributors.
The Leading Team
Aurko Bhattacharya – Co-founder
An alumna of the prestigious institutions, IIT, Roorkee, and IIM, Calcutta, Aurko Bhattacharya is an engineer by qualification. He holds over 12 years of working experience in the banking sector and worked with giant brands like ICICI Bank and Barclays.
Akshat Saxena – Co-founder
Another leading man at ePaylater, Akshat Saxena has been a Business World 40 under 40 awardee and carries a cross-sectional experience of working in Retail and Credit Tech. In his 10 year journey, he has worked extensively in the BFSI, credit, and payment space. He is an engineer by qualification from DA-IICT Gandhinagar and holds an MBA degree from the Management Development Institute, Gurgaon (MDI).
Uday Somayajula – Co-founder
The enthusiast industry professional Uday Somayajula is also an engineer from JNTU, Hyderabad and he did MBA from Management Development Institute, Gurgaon (MDI). Uday has been in the industry for over a decade; he has worked in multiple areas of banking, capital markets, and risk consulting and reputed organizations like ICICI Bank and Accenture Management Consulting.
These three visionaries with their unique expertise and skills are driving ePaylater successfully and taking it to new heights. In an exclusive conversation, the seasoned leaders shared several aspects of their unique venture, achievements on the way, and leadership with the CEO Story Magazine.
Here are the edited excerpts!
How are you making an influential mark in your respective industry with your exclusive offerings?
The last mile of B2B commerce is marked by hurdles both sellers and buyers go through. Due to the major dependence on informal credit and lack of tech development in this segment, there are numerous inefficiencies. We introduce ePayLater as a one-stop solution to tackle different issues and allows the sellers and buyers to interact with each other.
With ePaylater on their side, sellers can mitigate risk, reduce costs and boost their sales, on the other hand, buyers can procure a variety of products at the best available prices and manage their finances efficiently. Ultimately ePayLater supports both buyers and sellers to boost their profit margins by making business more efficient.
How would you evaluate the impact scale of your venture?
India is a land of entrepreneurs if you count all the people who are running their businesses. Kirana stores are a prime example of the same. There are about 14 million Kirana stores in the country and they are mostly proprietorship firms indicating individual ownership. The income of each Kirana store is not only helping in the sustenance of the owner’s family but also the families of the helping hands at the shops. A Kirana store on average would employ 2-3 helping hands. Also, each Kirana store caters to some 100-200 households in the community. Kirana stores are the last mile gateway to customers for large brands and thousands of people employed in the supply chain. Thus anything which helps the Kirana stores do more business and consequently earn more has a direct impact on millions of people employed in the industry and also helps spread more cheer in the customer segment as well as get better service.
Please highlight the achievements and accolades attained by the Company so far?
ePayLater has been recognized by many leading publications and organizations throughout. They are a testament to our commitment to delivering excellence. Here are some of the awards and recognition we have received:
- Innovation of the year award
- Product of the year award
- Top 50 fintech companies in India by fintech Asia
- Top 100 disruptive Indian start-ups to look out for in 2017, by the Hacker Street
- Top startups in AI – Business Standard
- Top FinTech’s 2018 – SKOCH Award
- Nominated for interaction with the honourable Prime Minister of India
- India’s most innovative fintech 2019 awarded by min of IT
- Express IT Award for 2019 – innovation – MSME by financial express
- Participated in the Mexican Deligation and been featured on News24!
We are extremely honoured to have been recognized by some of the most prestigious organizations in the finance industry. This is because of the hard work and dedication of our innovative team to provide the best possible experience for our customers. We will continue to strive for excellence in everything we do, and we are grateful for this recognition.
How does BNPL help in financial inclusion?
Traders and small businessmen find it tough to access formal credit as Banks often provide only secured loans and the processes are often tedious and cumbersome, to say the least.
In this situation, these traders/businessmen go for informal credit when they need money. Informal credit comes with its own set of problems as the terms are not consistent, the credit cannot be used for all purposes and it does not create any track record in the formal financial system. Since data is hard to come by, most formal financial institutions rely heavily on security thus forming a vicious loop. ePayLater is not only supporting these Kirana stores by providing them access to formal credit but is also helping them create a track record in the formal financial systems which allows them to take larger bank loans etc. in the future. We are also helping them in managing their finances and create a digital trail of transactions that allows them to run their businesses more efficiently.
Describe the role of ePaylater on different levels – for the buyer, sellers, and financial institutions.
ePayLater seamlessly provides a platform for each stakeholder to interact with the other. While for the buyer ePayLater provides a platform for ordering and confirming the orders, for sellers the system allows order management, inventory management, acceptance of payments digitally, automates collections, and helps them adhere to their terms of trade. For financial institutions, ePayLater is a three-in-one system that allows them to underwrite, source customers, and provide the infrastructure for the credit to flow through.
