Why We Invested in SalarySe

India’s digital revolution has reshaped how millions transact. The country’s Unified Payments Interface, UPI, now processes over $3 trillion in payments annually, serving 500 million users. Credit cards, meanwhile, remain concentrated among high-income, already carded users. Credit card usage also stays confined to formal merchants, with less than 9 million point of sale (POS) terminals compared to over 650 million UPI QR points.

As digital payments become universal, the next wave of financial innovation lies in embedding formal credit directly into everyday payments. The Credit on UPI framework by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) allows users to link their RuPay credit card directly to their UPI app, making credit-based payments as seamless as regular UPI transactions.

Gurugram-based SalarySe is at the forefront of this shift, and that’s why we are privileged to be leading its $11.3 million Series A, with participation from marquee investors Susquehanna Asia VC, Peak XV's Surge, and Pravega Ventures.

At Flourish Ventures, we see this as a defining step in India’s fintech evolution, where credit becomes as frictionless and trusted as payments themselves. SalarySe not only makes credit simple and accessible for India’s salaried professionals, but it also helps them build healthier financial habits and long-term resilience.

Taking on the Credit on UPI opportunity

Over their combined careers, SalarySe’s founders have developed a deep understanding of India’s financial system, and they saw how it was failing the average salaried professional.

The roots of SalarySe trace back to when Mohit Gorisariya and Saumeet Nanda met at BCG in Mumbai. Around the same time, they connected with Piyush Bagaria, who was then with CVC Capital. Each brought over a decade of experience — Mohit in credit cards and lending, Saumeet in business strategy and risk modeling, and Piyush in investment banking, private equity, and venture capital. Their diverse experiences gave them a unique lens to understand both the pain points in the system and how technology could be used to solve them.

“SalarySe was born from seeing salaried employees struggle with financial stress despite steady incomes, and banks unable to offer them desired products and experiences despite high demand,” the founders wrote. “We wanted to leverage technology for financial well-being, making a service that was simple, transparent, and accessible to all while ensuring banks we partnered with were able to maintain profitability and credit discipline.”

The opportunity emerged with the launch of NPCI’s Credit on UPI framework in 2023 — a landmark step for India’s fintech ecosystem that brought formal credit into the heart of the country’s most widely used payment network.

Several strong tailwinds have been driving this growth:

• Regulatory clarity: The NPCI Credit on UPI framework gives banks and fintechs a compliant, interoperable foundation to expand credit.
  
• Scale and readiness: RuPay, NPCI’s homegrown card payment network, competes with global players like Visa and Mastercard. RuPay credit cards on UPI transactions have been growing rapidly, now accounting for over 38% of total credit card transactions, all within a short span of 2-3 years.
  
• High engagement: Early data shows that Credit on UPI users exhibit 5-6X the engagement and lower friction compared to traditional credit products, creating a scalable pathway for responsible, everyday credit adoption.
  
• User behavior shift: India’s young, digital-first consumers expect credit to be instant, transparent, and built into their existing payment experiences.
  
• Economic efficiency: By removing dependence on POS terminals and physical cards, Credit on UPI lowers distribution costs for banks, reduces friction for merchants, and simplifies access for users.

Bringing efficiency and precision to credit for the masses

Founded in 2023, SalarySe connects banks, employers, and India’s salaried users to make access to formal credit seamless, responsible, and deeply embedded in everyday financial flows.

Built on the NPCI’s Credit on UPI framework, SalarySe enables users to make credit-based UPI payments through RuPay cards issued by partner banks. 

What sets SalarySe apart is its employer-led model, which leverages verified income data and salary-linked repayments to bring efficiency and precision to how credit is issued and managed. 

For employers, it enables financial wellness programs to be rolled out to their workforce through salary-linked loans, financial advisory, and investment products — improving employee well-being and retention. For banks, embedding within employer ecosystems lowers acquisition costs and operational overhead, while access to verified payroll data strengthens underwriting accuracy and repayment visibility.

This approach has already led to strong traction across enterprises. SalarySe has signed over 50 corporate partners, including large global names across IT services (Wipro Limited, Tech Mahindra, Persistent, KPIT, Birlasoft),  healthcare (Aster DM, HCG, IKS Health), and the banking, financial services, and insurance sector. The company has also established partnerships with two of India's leading banks, HDFC Bank and RBL Bank, to issue cards, and other large banks are in the pipeline.

Heading into this fundraise, SalarySe has onboarded over 100,000 users, demonstrating efficient customer acquisition and strong repayment performance. These users transact more than 30 times per month, largely on everyday essentials such as groceries, healthcare, and education. It's a reflection of how credit, when responsibly delivered, can improve everyday financial resilience.

By combining the trust of employers, the reach of UPI, and the scale of banking partnerships, SalarySe is redefining how Credit on UPI can reach India’s salaried professionals — efficiently, responsibly, at scale.

A trusted partner for India's workforce

We see Credit on UPI as one of the most transformative shifts in India’s financial landscape, combining the scale of digital payments with the growing demand for simple, accessible credit. 

By connecting banks, employers, and India’s salaried workforce, SalarySe is addressing long-standing inefficiencies in credit distribution — from high acquisition costs to limited customer data visibility — while removing dependence on legacy POS infrastructure and embedding credit directly within UPI.

As it scales, SalarySe is positioned to become a trusted financial wellness partner for India’s workforce, enabling responsible credit use, improving financial behavior by managing cash flows better, and unlocking long-term value for both users and employers. The company will use this fundraise to expand bank and corporate partnerships in addition to its customer base, and to leverage AI to improve customer journeys and experience.

We are honored to support Mohit, Saumeet, Piyush, and the rest of the SalarySe team as they lead this next phase of India’s fintech innovation — where credit is embedded in payments, accessible to millions, and built on trust and transparency.