Our Investors Speak
“The investment in EPS is a landmark transaction for Apis, and is exactly the type of opportunity that drove us to establish Apis: providing catalytic equity capital to highly entrepreneurial financial infrastructure businesses in growth markets, fostering economic growth and enabling greater financial inclusion” said Matteo Stefanel, Apis Co-Founder and Managing Partner. “We are extremely pleased to be supporting the EPS team, who has an impressive track-record of execution, and we look forward to working together on the next phase of the Company’s growth.”
“ATMs represent vital last-mile financial services infrastructure for many in India, especially those living in rural areas; but despite the high dependence on cash, there are currently only 15 ATMs per 100,000 adults in the country, far less than in other growth markets,” said Apis Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Udayan Goyal. “The sector is growing rapidly thanks to the Indian Government’s recent emphasis on financial inclusion and high growth of card-holders as a result of the new Indian card scheme RuPay. We believe EPS is ideally positioned to deliver exciting growth."
Earlier Aavishkaar, Aavishkaar GoodWell and FMO (Netherlands based developmental financial institution) invested $20 million in the Company’s first three rounds of funding. “Our investment in EPS was driven by our belief in Mani Mamallan’s leadership and his team and also the vision shared by Mani with us, as EPS at that time was just a concept note. With the new round of capital infusion EPS is well placed to deliver technology lead Financial Inclusion effectively across India,” said Vineet Rai, Founder and Managing Director of Aavishkaar.
Speaking on behalf of FMO, Anneloes Dros said “We supported EPS for their strong leadership and management qualities the team possesses and operating with significant growth potential in a rapidly growing Indian economy. This also supports FMO’s financial inclusion agenda of operating financial services in a semi urban and rural economy."
“The ATM Management industry in India is entering a high-growth phase, backed by strong Governmental push towards financial inclusion, RBI allowing banks to offer all their products and services through their ATM network, and impending rollouts of Small Finance Banks and Payment Banks. We believe that the sector will head towards consolidation, with players expanding their service offering and also entering into new segments in the payment spectrum,” says Meenal Dutia, who leads the financial services practice for Investment Banking at Intellecap which acted as the exclusive advisor to EPS on the fund raise transaction.
“Mani Mamallan had envisioned building a company that democratizes ATM business in India. He reached out to Aavishkaar with the idea of Electronic Payment Systems Pvt. Ltd. (EPS) in September 2012. Aavishkaar became a partner with Mani in this crusade and has over last two years invested in multiple rounds to scale the business. We have been inspired by the level of determination and grit displayed by this experienced team of corporate professionals, in building this company from an idea to a large functioning enterprise demonstrating both scale and profitability. We at Aavishkaar, have been proud of our association with EPS leadership and its ethos and are excited by the vision of this company and the future that awaits us.”
Vineet Rai
Founder and Managing Director - Aavishkaar Venture Management Services Private Limited (AVMS)
Commissioner, Global Commission on Business and Social Development
“EPS has demonstrated its ability to rapidly and effectively deploy, commission and implement the operations and management of ATM’s across Maharashtra, including the far-flung districts of Gadchiroli, Gondia and Nundanbar. As of the end of the financial year, the company had deployed the largest number of ATM’s in a single circle for the Ministry of Finance’s consolidated RFP. This would not have been possible without the unstinting efforts of the EPS team, headed by Mr. Chandrashekar, Manohar Bhoi, Prakash Joshi, Murali Bhavanarayan and Thyagarajan Sheshadri. The directors would like to place on record the services rendered by all employees of the company. Our continuing support for EPS is only a reflection of the confidence we have in the team. We believe that EPS can become a leading player in the payments space and will continue to offer our full support to reach this goal.”
Noshir Colah
Operations Partner - Aavishkaar Venture Management Services Private Limited (AVMS)
“By offering outsourced ATM services in India, EPS stands to benefit from a rapidly growing ATM market. At the same time, they contribute to financial inclusion in India by improving access to financial services in an under-penetrated market. EPS is founded by professionals who have been part of the retail, banking, oil and technology space for more than a decade. Together EPS senior management have 30 years of retail payments experience and have been in the forefront of various new initiatives in the country for the last decade or so. By supporting this well-positioned company with a strong management team and significant strategic growth potential operating in a fast growing economy, FMO can support India’s financial inclusion agenda.”
