MSME focused fintech startup HostBooks raised USD 3 Mn Series A funding

HostBooks, a Gurugram headquartered, MSME focused fintech startup that provides automated, cloud-based accounting and compliance software for MSMEs, has announced that it has raised USD 3 Million in Series A funding round led by Razorpay, a market leader in the payments processing industry in India.

Hostbooks will channel the funding toward scaling its operations and expanding its current product offerings, a press release from the company said. At present, the platform provides an easy, single sign-in access to comprehensive solutions for MSMEs to manage back-end processes across the value chain, including finance, accounting, tax, GST, e-way bills, banking, inventory management, billing and invoicing, order management, cash and bank management, procurement and payroll as well as business intelligence, the release said.

According to data service platform Crunchbase, Hostbooks - an approved service provider of NSDL and Amazon Web Services consulting partner, aims to reduce the compliance burden of MSMEs by almost 50%.  HostBooks’ automated and cloud based solutions enable MSMEs to cut time and costs by 70% and focus on their core business. The company allows free cloud storage for its in-built Documentation System.

With the early stage capital, Hostbooks will launch innovative products to support order management, neobanking, advanced inventory and product management, the release said. The new products under development include a deep learning based business intelligence system and an Artificial Intelligence driven posting and recommendation system, a report in YourStory said. These added services will transform the HostBooks platform to a ‘one-stop-shop’ for MSMEs in India, the press release also noted. At present, the platform hosts more than 2,50,000 businesses.

Founded in 2017 by Kapil Rana, HostBooks grew its customer base by almost 30% during the first lockdown imposed to combat COVID-19. At a time when contactless payments were a necessity, the company’s Point of Sale Devices became popular with its retailer customers, who also received the added benefits of reducing paperwork and dealing with other hassles, including scheduling employees, managing accounts and inventories, a CNBC TV-18 report says. 

Quoting an India Business Spend Indicator Report released in March this year, the Paymnts.com report says that the HostBooks announcement comes at a time when 42% of micro-sized companies, 57% of small-sized companies and 53% of medium-sized companies are looking at tech-led solutions to reduce costs, improve productivity and attract new customers. 

Commenting on the funding round, Mr. Kapil Rana, Founder and Chairman, HostBooks said that the company shared investor Razorpay’s vision to ‘build the financial backbone of businesses in India’, according to the press release. With the infusion of new capital and expert guidance from Razorpay, HostBooks will be able to make business processes simpler for entrepreneurs and give them the right tools to fast track their growth, Mr. Biswajit Mishra, Co-Founder, HostBooks, added.

Mr. Harshil Mehta, CEO and Co-Founder, Razorpay said that the two companies would work together to “build stronger, frictionless business operations SaaS and banking ecosystem for millions of MSMEs in India”.