To support the upcoming generation of business-to-business (B2B) entrepreneurs, Razorpay, a payments and business banking platform, has announced the opening of its Razorpay Venture Investment Program.

The initiative, which was started in partnership with Peak XV Partners and Lightspeed, seeks to find and fund more than 50 innovative early-stage entrepreneurs. The business will support B2B entrepreneurs at different phases of development with capital, technology, and leadership.

Targeting early-stage businesses, the program will invest up to $1 million in each startup.

The Razorpay Venture Investment Program was created specifically to help businesses in sectors like fintech, e-commerce, retail, travel, education, healthcare, logistics, hospitality, mobility, and export, starting from the pre-seed and Series A stages. Startups can use Razorpay's website to apply immediately.

The company's Head of Strategy and Corporate Development, Vishnu Acharya, will lead the program. Acharya has extensive experience collaborating directly with founders to support their growth. The program's goal under his direction is to have a major impact on India's B2B ecosystem.  

Razorpay was recently valued at about $7.5 billion and has raised over $800 million via different fundraising rounds. Despite a brief halt to the onboarding of new merchants during the first nine months of the fiscal year, the company reported a 24% year-over-year (YoY) rise in revenue for its Payment Gateway (PG) division to Rs 2,068 crore. Notably, during the same time period, the company's earnings after taxes increased by about five times.

Harshil Mathur, Co-Founder and CEO, Razorpay says, “Building a startup, particularly in the B2B space, is a daunting challenge. Having experienced it firsthand and witnessing founders across industries face this daily, we believe the support system must go beyond just capital,"

He added, "With the Razorpay Venture Investment Program, we aim to ease this journey by providing access to the right technology, mentorship, and partnerships to help founders innovate and scale faster,” he added.