In a significant regulatory milestone, Mumbai-based fintech startup EximPe has secured the Payment Aggregator Cross-Border (PA-CB) In-Principle licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) — a move that could reshape how Indian businesses manage cross-border trade.
What makes this achievement stand out? EximPe is among the first to receive this newly introduced licence without previously holding any payments licence, signaling both regulatory confidence and the platform’s growing influence in the cross-border payments ecosystem.
Founded in 2021 by Arjun Zacharia, EximPe was born out of a clear pain point: cross-border trade is critical for growing businesses, but the processes are often fragmented, compliance-heavy, and opaque. EximPe set out to simplify that — and now, with the RBI’s green light, it’s ready to scale the solution.
“With this licence, EximPe is uniquely positioned to support businesses expanding in the high-growth India–Asia corridor,” said Zacharia, founder and CEO. “We aim to grow 10X by the end of FY26, by making global trade faster, simpler, and fully compliant.”
The PA-CB licence will allow EximPe to transition from being just a tech layer facilitating payments to a fully regulated cross-border infrastructure provider — handling everything from pay-ins and pay-outs for digital services, e-commerce, and B2B goods, to compliance and trade documentation.
Since its inception, the platform has already processed over $450 million in transactions and now serves a vibrant community of 5,000+ SMEs, manufacturers, and service providers across India and other emerging Asian markets. It’s this deep operational footprint — paired with regulatory legitimacy — that gives EximPe a strong edge in a sector dominated by legacy processes.
Previously backed by Leo Capital in a $3.5 million Series A round, EximPe’s latest milestone reflects a larger trend in India’s fintech landscape: startups not just innovating at the edges, but working with regulators to build trusted, long-term infrastructure for the global economy.
As India’s digital economy goes global, EximPe is positioning itself to be more than just a bridge — it wants to be the highway for cross-border business.
By-Priyanka Chatterjee
