- After creating a business aimed at offering small businesses payment options, Razorpay is investing money to support the development of a strong startup ecosystem.
- A program called Razorpay Rize offers businesses fundraising, incorporation, and mentoring services.
- 10% of the 50 startups chosen by YCombinator that have mentorship from Razorpay Rize.
It is unlikely that the CEO of the Adani Group will ever appear in an advertisement for the Aditya Birla Group or Reliance Industries. But the ecosystem is crucial in the scary new world of startups. Almost everyone has the desire to launch a company, but few are aware of the bureaucratic obstacles they must overcome in order to even get their nameplate on their door. Only a founder who has experienced the drill can truly appreciate this suffering, as Razorpay’s Harshil Mathur discovered back in 2014. As a result, his company has a dedicated division to assist other entrepreneurs. The system is known as Razorpay Rize.
The first step in a startup founder’s dream of creating a company is to register their business with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Payroll, tax compliance, and a plethora of other minutiae follow registration. The majority of founders are not aware of these laborious procedures. In fact, Mathur remembers a time in his early career when he had to transfer salary on New Year’s Eve while on vacation at the end of the year. Today, Razorpay offers a payroll option for startups.
Razorpay’s company offers online payment solutions to small businesses, therefore it seems sense that his company’s mission is to solve challenges for startups. Mathur and his co-founder Shashank Kumar now spend their time and resources to assisting other start-ups through a structured initiative called Razorpay Rize after achieving unicorn status and carving out their spot in the startup ecosystem. It is a program that supports entrepreneurs in two crucial areas: incorporation and application to the YCombinator mentorship program.
Similar to other incubation programs, Razorpay Rize aims to address the issues founders confront in these two areas. The two major problems founders run with are incorporation and raising money.
Both of these are helped by the Rize program. For Razorpay’s Rize initiative, 100 companies typically apply each year. Let us Rize Together is the program’s slogan. According to Mathur, “The goal of Razorpay Rize is to create a community of founders that share the same values. It has developed into a founders’ community through time. Razorpay does not directly profit financially. We host numerous events centered on finances, procedures, and marketing. Nearly 500 startup founders are currently a part of the Razorpay Rize community.
According to Aman Singh, the creator of SayF, a firm that assists individuals with earning, saving, and investing on a daily basis, “I learned about Razorpay Rize after IIT graduation. We are attempting to create a savings app, and Shashank and the Razorpay product team have provided us with multiple mentorship sessions. I have also been given access to a mentor. They hold frequent meetups where I was able to connect with others within the ecosystem and share experiences. These gatherings are both online and offline.
The initial step towards growing a business is incorporation, although there are several other possibilities as well (private limited, limited liability partnerships, and one-person companies). Then there is the concern with payroll and tax compliance. Razorpay offers mentorship programs for startup owners that include everything from marketing to payroll administration. It provides funding to emerging technological solution providers, both domestically and internationally.
Furthermore, a lot of startups desire to apply to the YCombinator program. Additionally, Razorpay Rize aids them in that procedure. For this, Mathur and his co-founder spend time talking to founders in person at their workplace. Rize is the focus of a large team at Razorpay. Mathur uses other founders as his heroes for his campaign rather than spending money on pricey ad commercials featuring cricket or Bollywood stars.
Mathur explains, “We have a program that assists entrepreneurs in getting ready for the YCombinator program. Additionally, 10% of the 50 startups that were chosen were mentored by Razorpay Rize. It is a fantastic place to begin. Some Rize businesses have moved forward and obtained additional funding from VCs. We do not invest in these firms or request that they purchase our products.
In the most recent media campaign, Razorpay used AI techniques to create marketing content that featured other startup CEOs. According to Mathur, “We highlighted Shashank Mehta, the owner of Whole Truth Foods and a client of ours. He spoke about payroll in a brand ad we created. We provide startup founders with products. We intended to run a print campaign after launching ImagineByAI. Therefore, we made the decision to launch a campaign that shared company founders’ journeys and images. The success of the startups we support determines Razorpay’s success.
Where then is the catch? If there is no advantage to the company, why would any corporation spend valuable management time and resources on praising other competitors? In a brave new world, the ecosystem is your main business, contrary to what conventional wisdom would have you believe. Razorpay was not created to handle the massive corporations’ payment issues. It emerged from problems of its own. For Razorpay, which aims to help small businesses and startups address their difficulties, the more successful startups there are, the better. Additionally, Razorpay establishes credibility with these founders early on in their path by assisting them at a crucial point in their journey.
In terms of its business, Razorpay thinks that the success of the businesses it supports will determine its own. Even if there is not a short-term business gain, the fintech unicorn will help these founders. Mathur continues, “We are gradually growing Rize and diversifying our offerings without compromising the experience.”
