Bengaluru-based fintech company Clear, which helps enterprises and individuals file their income tax returns, has acquired Y Combinator-backed B2B payments startup yBanq for an undisclosed amount of money.
Previously known as ClearTax, the company rebranded itself as Clear to expand its offerings to include B2B payments and lending services. This acquisition, which according to local media Economic Times is worth USD 5 million, is its first step in that direction.
The decade-old company has now diversified into a software-as-a-service company. It provides enterprise software solutions through several services such as wealth management, goods and services tax, e-invoicing, and vendor and distributor management. Over 5 million individuals, 600,000 small and medium-sized businesses, and 2,000 enterprises use its platform for filing taxes and other billing-related services.
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The company is reportedly in talks with Tiger Global to raise USD 100 million at a valuation of around USD 850 million. It has so far raised USD 65 million from Composite Capital, Sequoia Capital, and Elevation Capital (previously known as SAIF Partners).
This acquisition will help Clear connect its customers with vendors, potential clients, distributors, and accountants on a single platform. The company claims to have processed 10% of business invoices in the country worth more than USD 300 billion and hopes to accelerate the process through yBanq.
“As a seed-level startup, yBanq built strong products in the payments space in a very short time. We are confident that it will add considerable momentum to our ongoing efforts in B2B payments and the credit space,” Archit Gupta, CEO of Clear, said in a statement.
YBanq was started in 2019 by Abhishek Ayyagari, Ganesh Mallya, and Ahamed Shah Wahidullah, who previously worked at fintech startups like PayPal, Citrus Payments, and PayU. Its ten-member team, across product and engineering, will join Clear after the deal.
