Brands created by UPI. Transforming Indian lives.
How India's UPI created $50+ billion in unicorns, saved ₹5+ lakh crore annually, and transformed 400 million lives — the world's greatest digital infrastructure story.
UPI is India’s instant, free, interoperable payment system that lets anyone transfer money between bank accounts using just a mobile app and QR code.
UPI transformed bank-to-bank transfers into a free, instant, QR-based payment system, processing ~20 billion transactions monthly (₹24-25 lakh crore value) as of August-September 2025. India now accounts for 49% of global real-time payment transactions, establishing itself as the world’s digital payments laboratory.
BRANDS & UNICORNS CREATED BY UPI
Decacorn/IPO-Bound
1. PhonePe (Valuation: ~$15 billion)
Market Position: 46-48% UPI market share
Scale: 600M+ users, 40M+ merchants
UPI-First Unicorns
2. Razorpay (Valuation: $7.5 billion)
Core Value: Enabled millions of SMEs/startups to accept UPI payments seamlessly
B2B Impact: Developer-friendly APIs, business banking (RazorpayX), payroll solutions
3. Pine Labs (Valuation: $6 billion target)
Service: Merchant acceptance + QR/UPI enablement at scale
Status: SEBI-cleared for IPO
Impact: Democratized payment acceptance for offline merchants
4. CRED (Valuation: $3.5-6.4 billion)
Model: Credit card bill payments via UPI
Innovation: Rewards ecosystem for responsible financial behavior
Impact: Demonstrated UPI’s potential for sophisticated financial products
5. BharatPe (Valuation: $2.85-3 billion)
Focus: Merchant-first UPI QR solutions for kiranas
Innovation: Zero-MDR payment acceptance, interoperable QR codes
6. Juspay (Valuation: $1.1 billion, April 2025)
Role: Underlying UPI and payments technology platform
Impact: Powers many large consumer apps’ payment infrastructure
7. Slice/North East Small Finance Bank (Valuation: $1.5 billion)
Target: Youth banking with UPI credit lines
Innovation: Credit card payments via UPI for first-time credit users
8. Khatabook/MyShop (Combined: $1 billion+)
Service: Digital ledgers (”khata”) integrated with UPI
Scale: 10M+ merchants track credit/debit digitally
Impact: Preserved trust-based credit system while digitizing it
Reach: Available in 11+ regional languages
SECTOR-SPECIFIC TRANSFORMATION
1. Quick Commerce (Q-Commerce)
UPI as Default Payment: Seamless, instant checkout
GMV Growth: $2.3 billion (2023) → $5.5 billion (2025 projected)
Players: Zepto, Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart
Impact: 10-20 minute delivery enabled by frictionless payments
2. Social Commerce
Platforms: WhatsApp, Instagram, Meesho
Model: Conversational commerce powered by UPI
Empowerment: Millions of homemakers, freelancers as entrepreneurs
Reach: Tier-2/3 cities where traditional e-commerce hasn’t penetrated
Rural Growth: Digital payments in semi-urban/rural up 118% (volume), 106% (value)
3. E-Commerce & Food Delivery
4. Financial Services
A. Wealth Management and Investment
Zerodha (India’s Largest Stockbroker)
UPI Impact: Instant trading account funding replaced NEFT/RTGS delays
Fund Transfer: Seamless margin deposits via UPI
Scale: 10M+ active clients (largest retail brokerage in India)
Innovation: Zero-commission model made viable by low-cost UPI transfers
Time Savings: Account funding reduced from 1-2 days to instant
Groww (Valuation: $3 billion+)
UPI Integration: One-click mutual fund investments
SIP Automation: UPI AutoPay enables recurring investments
User Base: 10M+ investors onboarded
Impact: Made mutual funds accessible to first-time investors
Geography: 70%+ users from Tier-2/3 cities
Kuvera (Wealth Management Platform)
Service: Commission-free mutual fund investments via UPI
Impact: Democratized wealth advisory services
ET Money (Times Internet Venture)
Features: Mutual funds, digital gold, NPS investments
UPI Role: Simplified investment redemptions and purchases
User Base: 5M+ app downloads
Innovation: UPI-enabled instant redemptions
B. Insurance Distribution
PolicyBazaar (PB Fintech - Listed)
Market Cap: ~₹50,000 crore (NSE listed)
UPI Integration: Instant premium payments for all insurance types
Impact: Reduced policy issuance time from days to minutes
Scale: 50M+ insurance policies facilitated
Products: Life, health, motor, travel insurance
Acko Insurance (Valuation: $1+ billion)
Model: Digital-first insurance with UPI payments
Innovation: Instant policy issuance via UPI checkout
Products: Motor, health, travel insurance
Impact: 60-70% faster policy purchase cycle
C. Digital Gold
Jar (Micro-Savings Platform)
Model: Daily automated micro-savings in digital gold
UPI Integration: Auto-debit small amounts (₹10-100) via UPI AutoPay
User Base: 10M+ downloads
Impact: Made gold investment accessible with tiny amounts
SafeGold (Digital Gold Platform)
Service: Buy/sell digital gold starting ₹1
UPI Role: Instant purchase and redemption
Partners: Integrated with PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm
Scale: 10+ million users
GoldRush (Augmont’s Platform)
Feature: UPI-based gold accumulation plans
Innovation: SIP in gold using UPI mandates
Impact: Formalized small-ticket gold investments
D. Credit & Lending
Slice (North East Small Finance Bank)
Credit Access: UPI-linked credit cards for youth
Scale: 5M+ credit cardholders
Innovation: Pay-via-UPI with credit line
Impact: First credit access for millions of Gen-Z users
KreditBee (Digital Lending)
Disbursement: Instant loan disbursal via UPI
Repayment: UPI-based EMI collections
Scale: 30M+ app downloads
Loan Size: ₹1,000 to ₹2 lakh personal loans
Impact: Alternative credit for thin-file borrowers
MoneyTap (Credit Line Platform)
Model: Pre-approved credit line accessible via UPI
Withdrawal: Instant fund transfer to UPI-linked account
Repayment: Flexible EMI via UPI AutoPay
Scale: 5M+ credit lines sanctioned
LazyPay (PayU’s BNPL)
Service: Buy Now Pay Later integrated with UPI
Merchants: 250+ e-commerce partners
Payment: UPI-based bill settlement
Impact: Credit for small-ticket online purchases
E. Neo-Banking & Business Banking
Open (Valuation: $1 billion+)
Service: SME neo-banking with UPI acceptance
Features: Current accounts, payment collection, expense management
Scale: 2.3M+ SMEs onboarded
UPI Role: Core payment infrastructure for businesses
Innovation: Automated reconciliation of UPI receipts
Jupiter (Neo-Banking App)
Model: Savings account with integrated UPI handle
Features: Instant UPI payments, goal-based savings
User Base: 2M+ customers
Innovation: Gamified savings with UPI automation
Fi Money (Neo-Bank)
Target: Millennials and Gen-Z
UPI Integration: Primary payment method
Features: Smart deposits, automated savings via UPI
Impact: Made banking experience mobile-first
GLOBAL IMPACT & RECOGNITION
Scale Achievements
India’s Share: 49% of global real-time payment transactions (2023)
Monthly Volume: 20+ billion transactions (Aug-Sept 2025)
International Presence: Operational in 7 countries (UAE, Singapore, France, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Mauritius)
Cross-Border: UPI-PayNow linkage enables real-time India-Singapore remittances
CONCLUSION
UPI represents more than a payment system—it’s a public digital infrastructure that created extraordinary economic and social value:
Enabled unicorn creation: $50B+ in company valuations
Massive cost savings: ₹5+ lakh crore annually to economy
Productivity revolution: 2B+ hours saved annually
Financial inclusion: 400M+ digitally empowered citizens
Job creation: 1M+ employment opportunities
Global leadership: 49% of world’s real-time payments
UPI stands as proof that when technology is designed as a public good, open for all to build upon, and focused on solving real problems for real people, it can truly transform a nation’s economy.
Data as of October 2025 : The Indian fintech and digital business ecosystem continues to evolve rapidly.
Source : NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India). Press Information Bureau (PIB), Government of India , Reserve Bank of India (RBI), NASSCOM Fintech Landscape 2025 Report. AI tools have been selectively used.
Disclaimer : Abhiroop Rishi is the Co-founder and Fund Manager of ABHI Incubation Angel Fund SEBI Registration Number IN/AIF1/24-25/1514. He is NISM Category I & II Alternative Investment Fund Manager certified (Registration number NISM – 201800164903) This post is not to solicit any business or to provide any kind of advice.