Pine Labs, a start-up that provides merchants with payment terminals, billing tools and working capital, said Monday it completed the first close of a $ 285 million funding as the nearly two decades old company was looking to expand its business.

Baron Capital Group, Duro Capital, Marshall Wace, Moore Strategic Ventures and Ward Ferry Management funded the new round of funding, while existing investors Temasek, Lone Pine Capital and Sunley House Capital also participated, the Indian startup said.

The new round valued Pine Labs at $ 3 billion, up from around $ 2 billion in December last year and $ 1 billion at the start of 2020. Pine Labs also operates in several Southeast Asian markets.

“We are delighted to welcome renowned investors such as Marshall Wace, Baron Capital Group, Ward Ferry Management, Duro Capital and Moore Strategic Ventures to Pine Labs’ already pristine cap chart. This is an exciting phase of our journey as we enter new markets. We excel in enterprise merchant payments and now aim to break new ground in the online space, while continuing to serve the credit and commerce needs of our offline merchant partners, ”said B. Amrish Rau, CEO of Pine Labs, in a report.

The startup, which also counts PayPal among its investors, serves more than 140,000 merchants. Its payment terminal, also known as point of sale, is connected to the cloud and offers a range of additional services such as working capital – to merchants.

Pine Labs is running an analysis application based on debit cards from the banks it has tied up to determine the extent of credit to be made available to each cardholder. PineLabs then converts large payments to EMI (Assimilated Monthly Payments) using its Pine Pay Later app. In the midst of the pandemic at the end of last year, the startup was bringing more than 10,000 new companies to the platform every month.

Pine Labs is the market leader in many categories. The startup – which acquired Qwikcilver in 2019 – took over 95% of the gift card market share in the fiscal year ending March 2020. Its point-of-sale machines are among the most used in industry.

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FinTechs are expanding into new segments to increase engagement, addressable market and drive monetization (Image: Credit Suisse; Data: Enterprise, Credit Suisse)

“We are very excited to be a part of the technological transformation that Pine Labs is leading on the ground in payments and the multiple interconnections and efficiencies it is able to create by providing consumers with a faster and cost-effective access to a wider range of financial products like BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later), where he is leading a pioneering effort on behalf of the financial system. We are also delighted that an Indian company is able to drive regional and potentially global adoption of its intellectual property and this represents an important option for the future, ”said Amit Rajpal, CEO and Portfolio Manager of Marshall Wace. Asia, in a statement.

More to follow later today.