Zoho’s UPI Bet, WazirX To Restart Operations, and Meesho Counters AWS

Zoho’s move into UPI isn’t a side project, it’s a strategic wedge. Payments are the cheapest on-ramp to a bigger prize: owning the data exhaust of millions of transactions and turning a pure-SaaS relationship into a finance relationship. UPI itself won’t make money - zero MDR does what it’s designed to do - but it gives Zoho the high-frequency signals to underwrite working-capital loans, sell insurance and SIPs, and bundle cards and POS into a sticky operating system for SMEs. That’s the same playbook PhonePe and Paytm used: scale on free payments, monetize on credit, subscriptions, and merchant services. The difference is distribution. Zoho doesn’t need a cashback war to get downloads; it can inject UPI directly into Zoho Books, Invoice, Commerce, and a growing footprint of POS and soundboxes, so acquisition is embedded in existing workflows rather than bought with coupons.

The timing is opportunistic and logical. Two apps sit on 80-85% of India’s UPI traffic, which means the mass market is incredibly expensive to crack, as Flipkart-backed Super.Money showed with 5% cashbacks to sprint from ~2.5 million to ~257 million monthly transactions and the #5 spot in barely a quarter - but at a real burn rate. Zoho is unlikely to copy that because it doesn’t have to. It already has more than 7.5 lakh paying business customers, a Payment Aggregator license, and published rails and pricing for UPI, cards, and bank transfers that plug straight into its finance suite. In other words, it can grow by converting businesses first, their employees next, and consumers last - exactly where the unit economics are saner and the cross-sell is richer.

Arattai, the in-house messenger, adds an interesting but limited lever. Downloads spiked into the millions after a relaunch push, and Zoho is smart to embed UPI there to mimic “chat-commerce” workflows. But WhatsApp’s cautionary tale looms large: a 500-million-user juggernaut barely moved the needle in UPI, stuck in low single-digit share despite cap removal, precisely because payments adoption follows trust, incentives, and merchant utility - not only chat DAUs. Arattai’s real usefulness is as a B2B utility layer for invoices, collections, and expense claims inside Zoho’s stack, not as a WhatsApp killer.

The market is big enough to support a focused challenger. UPI crossed ~159 billion transactions in FY24 and is tracking toward ~481 billion and ₹593 trillion in value by FY29; even a 2-3% share translates to 100-150 million monthly transactions, plenty to fuel a lending and insurance cross-sell if your CAC is low and your underwriting is better than the pack. That’s Zoho’s quiet edge: it already sits on ledger-grade data (receivables, payroll cycles, POS velocity) that most payment apps have to rent via aggregators. Tie that to Zoho Pay rails and you can do Shopify-Capital-style merchant advances with automated split-repayments, while keeping risk models close to the source of truth.

There are real headwinds. Late entry means the consumer top-funnel is cemented by PhonePe and Google Pay. Regulatory friction will rise the moment Zoho leans into lending - KYC, AA-consents, NBFC partnerships, collections, fraud tooling - very different muscles from enterprise SaaS. And if Zoho chases vanity market share with blanket cashbacks, it will bleed like everyone else. The discipline test is whether it keeps incentives narrow: subsidize merchant hardware and reconciliation; reward RuPay-credit-on-UPI and bill-pay cohorts that carry margin. If it does that, the path to EBITDA in 3-4 years is realistic because the margin sits in credit spreads and distribution, not in UPI volume.

Five years from now, we think the base case looks like this: Zoho Pay becomes the “business-first fintech” for SMEs - UPI, cards, and POS tied natively to Books and CRM - pushing automated reconciliation and offering instant merchant cash advances underwritten on first-party cash-flow data. Add a co-branded card, MF/insurance shelves, and virtual accounts for collections and payroll, and you have a full finance layer. The optimistic case layers on an NBFC license or deeper balance-sheet partnerships to capture more of the credit spread and extends cross-border as UPI global corridors open up. The downside case is familiar: if execution drifts toward consumer vanity metrics, Arattai stalls, and lending ships late, Zoho ends up a small payments logo inside a giant SaaS, leaving the profit pool to today’s incumbents. The odds favor the middle path: Zoho is bootstrapped, profitable, and culturally patient; it can choose unit economics over leaderboard screenshots.

Two comparisons frame the bet. Super.Money showed a cash-assisted sprint can earn a quick seat at the table, but sustaining it needs lending and card economics to carry the weight; WhatsApp showed that distribution without a payments engine - and without merchant utility - doesn’t move share. Zoho’s route threads those lessons: win where it already owns the workflow, let UPI be an embedded feature not a standalone growth obsession, and monetize the credit graph that only a finance-plus-software OS can see.

Let’s go through what else is happening in Indian startup world - Grab your simmering cup of StartupChai.in and unwind with our hand-brewed memes.

“Arre Deewane Mujhe Pehchano”: WazirX To Restart Operations From October 24

After months in the shadows, WazirX is making a comeback on October 24 with 0% trading fees and a promise of transparency.

The cryptoexchange has joined hands with BitGo to beef up security after its $230 Mn hack. With token swaps, migrations, and even rebranding wrapped up, WazirX now plans to issue recovery tokens to heal its bruised community.

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“Ye Toh Theek Nahi Hai Sa’ab”: Meesho Counters AWS In INR 127 Cr Arbitration, Claims INR 86 Cr Damages

It’s a cloud clash in court - Meesho and AWS are locking horns over a ₹127 Cr arbitration. While AWS accuses Meesho of unpaid dues, Meesho fires back, blaming AWS for poor service and business disruption.

The e-commerce unicorn has even counterclaimed ₹86 Cr, saying it had to bear the migration costs and pay for the chaos.

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“Aaiye Aapke Intezar Tha”: ONDC Appoints Paytm’s Rohit Lohia As Chief Business Officer

ONDC has roped in Paytm veteran Rohit Lohia as its new Chief Business Officer to turbocharge India’s open digital commerce push.

With a track record in business strategy and product development at Paytm, Lohia now aims to build a transparent, innovation-driven ecosystem for small sellers. His goal: make ONDC the marketplace where buyers and sellers both win.

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“Suswagatam Suswagatam”: BharatPe Appoints Ex-Paytm SVP Ajit Kumar As New CTO

BharatPe has named ex-Paytm senior VP Ajit Kumar as its new CTO, ending a five-month tech leadership gap.

With nearly a decade at Paytm, Kumar is set to drive BharatPe’s innovation across payments and lending. The fintech unicorn hopes his experience will give its tech engine a fresh jolt of speed and stability.

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“Naya Yug, Naya Kanoon”: Govt Notifies Amendments To IT Rules To Streamline Content Takedown

The government has notified fresh amendments to the IT Rules, tightening the screws on content takedown from November 15.

The update brings sharper definitions for “unlawful” content and holds senior officials accountable for compliance. Interestingly, the move comes just as the IT ministry also opened public feedback on new measures to curb deepfakes.

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“Ab Aayega Maza”: Zoho To Enter Consumer Payments With Zoho Pay

Looks like Zoho’s next big play is to make software meet spending as it is stepping out of its SaaS comfort zone and into your wallet with Zoho Pay.

The Chennai-based giant’s new app will let users make UPI payments, transfer money, and pay bills, taking on fintech heavyweights like Google Pay and PhonePe.

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1. Healthy snacking brand Wonderland Foods has bagged ₹140 Cr from Asha Ventures and BII in its first institutional round. The startup plans to roll out new products, expand its reach, and build a green processing unit to boost efficiency and sustainability.

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2. Conversational AI startup Uniphore has secured $260 Mn in Series F funding from NVIDIA, AMD, and others, keeping its $2.5 Bn valuation steady. The company plans to ramp up global expansion and deepen its automation tech through acquisitions like Orby AI and Autonom8.
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3. Hyderabad-based Megaliter Varunaa, mentored by Brigade REAP, has raised ₹15 Cr in seed funding to scale its urban water management tech. The startup’s zero-capex ‘Megaliter Model’ turns sewage treatment plants into circular water utilities, pushing India closer to sustainable city living.
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