Skydo, cross-border payments platform for MSMEs and freelancers, raises $5 million

Skydo, a cross-border payments platform designed for enterprises, MSMEs, and freelancers, has raised $5 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by existing investor Elevation Capital.

The startup will use the raised capital to enhance operations, bolster risk monitoring, and strengthen compliance measures.

"This investment will help us acquire payment licenses across geographies, expand internationally, and enable customers to send and receive business payments across multiple countries," said Srivatsan Sridhar, Co-founder and CEO of Skydo.

What does Skydo do?

Skydo was founded in 2022 by Srivatsan Sridhar and Movin Jain. Sridhar, who previously headed business operations at Ola, and Jain, former head of payments product at PhonePe, joined forces to create a tech-driven platform that offers real-time tracking of cross-border payments.

The startup's tech-driven platform enables real-time tracking of cross-border payments.

Notably, the platform supports a variety of payment methods, including payment links, cards, and bank transfers, and provides tools like a savings calculator to help freelancers and exporters uncover hidden costs associated with foreign transactions.

Since its inception, Skydo has processed over $100 million in payments for more than 6,000 Indian small and medium-sized business (SMB) exporters.

Facilitating payments in 32 currencies

Skydo’s platform is currently connected to six global banks and multiple international payment systems, allowing it to facilitate payments in 32 currencies.

The startup’s primary markets include the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Europe, Singapore, and the UAE, which collectively account for 80-90% of remittance inflows into India. 

Operating under the RBI's OPGSP framework

Skydo operates under the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Online Payment Gateway Service Provider (OPGSP) framework, which is the primary payment method for over 300,000 MSME exporters across India.

The startup has also applied for the Cross-Border Payment Aggregator (PA-CB) license from the RBI, which would further solidify its position in the international payments space.