Harshil Mathur, Co-founder and CEO of Razorpay, leads one of India's largest fintech companies from its bustling Bengaluru headquarters. Despite the company's rapid growth and significant market presence, Mathur maintains a focused, measured approach, reflecting on the foundational principles that guided Razorpay from its inception.
The Genesis: Building for the Underserved
Twelve years ago, Mathur and co-founder Shashank Kumar faced skepticism from investors who viewed payments as an already saturated market dominated by established players. Their vision, however, was distinct: to build financial solutions specifically for India's burgeoning ecosystem of small startups. This conviction led them to relocate from Jaipur to Bengaluru, placing them closer to the very businesses they aimed to empower.
“Our thesis was simple—if we solved for these start-ups early, many of them would eventually become large companies, and we could grow alongside them,” Mathur explains. This strategy proved prescient, as many of India's leading technology companies, including Groww, Meesho, and Zepto, processed their initial transactions through Razorpay, eventually scaling into multi-billion-dollar enterprises.
Our thesis was simple—if we solved for these start-ups early, many of them would eventually become large companies, and we could grow alongside them.
— Harshil Mathur, Co-founder and CEO, Razorpay
Expanding Beyond Payments: Customer-Driven Innovation
What began as a payment gateway evolved into a comprehensive financial platform, driven primarily by customer needs. Around 2016-17, Razorpay's clients expressed a desire for automated solutions for post-collection processes, such as paying vendors and gig workers. This feedback spurred the development of payout solutions, which naturally extended to payroll services, addressing a common pain point for founders managing early-stage finances.
Further expansions into areas like gift cards demonstrate Razorpay's commitment to identifying and solving critical business problems at the intersection of technology and finance. Mathur notes that every product launch is designed to help businesses serve their customers better, consciously avoiding direct consumer-facing products.
Value Over Valuation: The True Measure of Success
While Razorpay's entry into the unicorn club in 2020 brought significant external attention, Mathur emphasizes that internal focus remained on growth and impact. He strongly distinguishes between valuation and genuine value creation.
“At the end of the day, the only thing that truly matters is the value you create for your customers,” Mathur asserts. He takes greater pride in Razorpay powering nearly 80% of India's unicorns than in the company's own unicorn status, viewing the former as a more meaningful measure of impact. Razorpay fosters a culture where innovation is paramount, exemplified by being the first payment gateway in India to launch UPI in 2016, a move that positioned them ahead of the curve when digital payments exploded.
The only thing that truly matters is the value you create for your customers. If you are creating more value for yourself than for your customers, you are living on borrowed valuation.
— Harshil Mathur, Co-founder and CEO, Razorpay
Personal Philosophy: Impact Beyond Wealth
For Mathur, success transcends personal wealth rankings. He defines it by the impact Razorpay has on people and the broader ecosystem—the startups they've helped build, the customers who rely on their services, and the employees who have grown meaningfully within the company. Wealth, he views as a means to an end, enabling family support, philanthropic endeavors, and the creation of new opportunities.
India's Digital Public Infrastructure: A Catalyst for Growth
Mathur credits India's robust public digital infrastructure, particularly UPI, as a crucial enabler for Razorpay's success and the broader fintech ecosystem. This infrastructure allows private companies to innovate on top of public rails, fostering a collaborative environment where all participants benefit from ecosystem growth. He highlights this as a collective achievement involving policymakers, government, regulators, public institutions, and private sector players.