Refyne, the Indian earned wage access solution provider, has managed to raise $16 million in Series A funding from partners of DST Global and RTP Global. The Bangalore-based startup that is just a year old, had earlier raised $4.1 million in seed funding in December last year, from investors Jigsaw VC, QED Investors and XYZ Capital. All these investors were also part of the recent funding round.
The fresh funding will be used to expand its technology team and scale growth initiatives. The startup provides a plug and play software to companies allowing their workers to access the salaries they have earned in real time. Using the Refyne app, workers can withdraw money anytime they wish to. They can also check how much they have earned in a week.
Chitresh Sharma, co-founder and chief executive, Refyne, explains that the objective behind the app is to allow people to keep track of the amount they have in hand and regulate expenses. Very often, workers run out of money before their next salary day, and are then forced to take loans. These emergency loans land them in a vicious debt cycle from which it is difficult to escape.
With this app, employees will have access to their own earnings at any time. Such apps are being used effectively by Uber and McDonald’s but is yet to be widely accepted in India. Refyne will be the first company in India to offer earned wage access. It is hoped that the platform will benefit the blue-collar community as well as white-collar workers. Brands such as Café Coffee Day, Chai Point, Hira Group and Rebel Foods are amongst the 100 companies that are already using the Refyne platform.
