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Inside JusPay, the cheetah that bypassed a stage to become a unicorn in Hurun Unicorn Report 2025

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India’s startup ecosystem has grown exponentially over the past decade, positioning itself as the third-largest globally. According to the ASK Private Wealth Hurun India Unicorn and Future Unicorn Report 2025, 10 Gazelles and Cheetahs achieved unicorn status this year.

Notably, JusPay, Jumbotail, and Veritas Finance bypassed the traditional Gazelle stage to become unicorns directly from Cheetah status, showcasing the accelerated pace of value creation in select sectors.

JusPay (fintech), Jumbotail (e-commerce), and Veritas Finance (lending) are examples of Indian startups that achieved unicorn status (over $1 billion valuation) rapidly, showcasing strong execution and market fit.

“These success stories reinforce the dynamism of India’s innovation ecosystem. They highlight that while Gazelles remain the usual Unicorn pipeline, Cheetahs too can sprint ahead and achieve billion-dollar valuations at record speed,” the report read.

How Juspay bypassed the gazelle stage

With a valuation of $1 billion, JusPay skipped the ‘Gazelle’ stage and reached ‘Unicorn’ status by achieving a strong market fit and executing flawlessly, which led to accelerated growth and billion-dollar valuations. While these ‘Cheetah’ companies normally follow a path to becoming Gazelles before becoming Unicorns, JusPay demonstrated exceptional momentum, allowing it to bypass the intermediate stage and achieve rapid success in India’s dynamic startup ecosystem.

This journey demonstrates how firms can achieve billion-dollar valuations in record time, allowing them to leapfrog the typical stages and move directly from a ‘Cheetah’ to a ‘Unicorn’.

What is the ‘Gazelle’ stage?

The Hurun report defines companies in the Gazelle stage as high-growth ventures that are advancing toward Unicorn status. This stage includes companies that were founded in or after 2000 with valuations between $500 million and $1 billion. They are expected to achieve unicorn status within the next three years.

About Juspay

India-based payments infrastructure firm Juspay is a global leader in payment infrastructure solutions for enterprises and banks. With its headquarters in Bengaluru, the fintech company is backed by investors including SoftBank, Accel, and VEF. Founded in 2012, the company processes over 200 million daily transactions and is trusted by major enterprises like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft.

Juspay focuses on payment orchestration, infrastructure, and experience, powering digital commerce for businesses worldwide. It had 1,061 employees as of May 2025, according to Tracxn.

Juspay’s founders and board of directors

Vimal Kumar, Ramanathan RV, Sheetal Lalwani, and Nishant Sameer are the founders of Juspay. Vimal Kumar is the CEO of the company.

Vimal Kumar is the co-founder & CEO of Juspay. He is a founder of Hyperswitch and JusPay, an angel investor in nine startups, and serves on the boards of two companies.

Sheetal Lalwani is the co-founder & COO of Juspay. She is also an angel investor in one startup.

Nishant Sameer is the co-founder & VP of Product Strategy at Juspay. He is a founder of JusPay, Eduflix and Rizort.

Ramanathan RV is the former co-founder of Juspay. He has founded three other companies: Hyperswitch, Hyperface, and JusPay, and is an angel investor in five  startups.

How many offices worldwide?

Juspay has at least eight offices worldwide, with locations in India (Bengaluru), the United States (San Mateo), Singapore, Ireland (Dublin) and Brazil (São Paulo). They also have upcoming or listed offices in Dubai and Jakarta.

Startup story

Juspay was founded to simplify digital payments by addressing the challenges of fragmented and unreliable payment systems in India. Reportedly, their initial product was ‘Card Vault,’ designed for secure card storage, and they later played a crucial role in developing the infrastructure for India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI), a foundational decision that positioned them as a leader in fintech.

It received authorisation from the Reserve Bank of India to operate as a payment aggregator (PA) last year. For FY24, the company reported a revenue of ₹319.32 crore, up from ₹213.39 crore in FY23.

Mission and vision

Juspay is focused on building a future where digital payments are seamless, secure, and accessible to a billion Indians. They achieve this by creating innovative and scalable solutions that eliminate friction in online transactions, providing smooth experiences for both consumers and businesses. Juspay’s mission is characterised by a commitment to three core principles: innovation, efficiency, and empowerment. It strives to create value by fostering a culture of innovation, optimising resources, and upholding strong ethical principles.

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