General Catalyst just led a $63M bet on India’s travel payments market - BERITAJA

Scapia, an Indian startup that combines recreation booking pinch co-branded in installments cards and mobile payments, has raised $63 cardinal successful a backing information led by General Catalyst, pinch existing investors Peak XV Partners and Z47 besides participating. The woody comes contempt a broader slowdown successful fintech dealmaking.

The all-equity information values assigns the startup a post-money valuation of much than $500 million, according to a root acquainted pinch the matter, much than doubling its valuation from around $200 million successful April 2025. The four-year-old outfit has raised $126 cardinal to day from investors.

That General Catalyst, 1 of the about salient U.S. task firms, is starring the information suggests that India’s travel-focused fintech marketplace is drafting superior attraction good beyond its location region.

The backing comes arsenic investors globally turn much selective successful fintech bets aft years of fierce funding. In India, fintech backing remained mostly level successful Q1 2026, while the number of deals fell by much than half from a twelvemonth earlier arsenic investors concentrated superior into fewer, larger deals, per a recent report by Tracxn. By contrast, the U.S. saw fintech backing turn sharply, driven by ample rounds for a fistful of companies successful areas including AI and crypto infrastructure.

Investors are betting Scapia could use from increasing request among younger Indians for apps that harvester payments and recreation bookings. Founded successful 2022 by erstwhile Flipkart executive Anil Goteti, the startup’s app combines co-branded in installments cards, UPI-based payments, recreation bookings, and commerce successful 1 place. UPI — India’s government-backed real-time payments web and 1 of the about wide utilized integer costs systems successful the world — is cardinal to really younger Indians move money today.

Over the past year, Scapia said formation bookings connected its level grew about six times, while edifice bookings accrued about eightfold, pinch smaller Indian cities driving a increasing stock of demand. Customer maturation besides roseate sevenfold during the aforesaid period, the startup said, without disclosing absolute figures.

Scapia has seen beardown take among younger travelers who progressively want elastic recreation rewards and integrated costs options alternatively of accepted in installments paper perks, Goteti said successful an interview. He added that one-third of users now for illustration airdrome eating and shopping rewards complete lounge access.

“Lounges are getting rather crowded,” Goteti told TechCrunch. “People really are looking for an acquisition extracurricular the lounge.”

Scapia besides offers a dual-network co-branded in installments paper utilizing some Visa and RuPay — a government-backed Indian costs web — allowing users to entree paper payments and UPI-linked in installments done a azygous statement, in installments line, and repayment flow. Moreover, the startup partners pinch Federal Bank and BOBCARD to connection co-branded cards and plans to adhd different banking partner successful the coming months, Goteti said.

The Bengaluru-based startup operates successful a increasing marketplace for travel-focused financial products successful India, competing pinch companies for illustration Niyo — different Indian startup that combines banking and recreation features — and recreation level Ixigo, while world fintech firms including Revolut are besides eyeing the country.

Scapia, which has about 250 employees, said the caller backing will spell toward expanding its merchandise offerings and hiring much AI-focused engineering and merchandise talent arsenic title intensifies successful India’s user fintech market.