India has over 6 crore MSMEs and small businesses, with government sources placing the MSME sector at more than 6.30 crore enterprises. Source: PIB. Most of these smaller operators cannot accept online payments because every payment aggregator in the country requires some or the other registration, a business bank account, and weeks of paperwork. If you are an individual, a freelancer, or a small shop owner, you are simply locked out.
I built UroPay because I got burned by this system as a CTO, then again as a solo founder. There was no product in the market that lets someone accept UPI payments online without formal business registration. So I built it myself.
It works. People are paying for it (to be honest, a few). And the market is enormous.
Talk to Me DirectlyThe Gap We Fill
MSMEs and small businesses in India
payment gateways serving them without registration *
UPI processed 185.8 billion transactions in FY2024-25, up from 131.1 billion in FY2023-24. Source: RBI Annual Report 2024-25 via IBEF. The informal economy - the one that cannot currently accept online payments - is a significant and completely unserved slice of that.
India's informal sector employs over 80% of the workforce. These businesses handle cash because they have no other option - not because they want to.
UPI served 491 million individuals and 65 million merchants in June 2025. Source: PIB/NPCI. The infrastructure is already there. The problem is that merchants without formal registration cannot plug into it.
No payment gateway in India serves unregistered businesses online. Razorpay, PayU, Cashfree - they all require GST. UroPay is the only option that does not.
It is not complicated. That is the point.
A merchant signs up and starts accepting payments online with no GST registration, no business bank account, no approval process.
Payments settle directly into their personal UPI account. UroPay sits in the middle only to confirm payment and trigger the order flow. There is no money held in escrow or UroPay's account, thereby no delay, no intermediary risk.
The companion Android app reads UPI credit SMS from the merchant's phone to confirm payments automatically. It is low-tech by design - UPI SMS has been a standard since 2016, it works on every bank, and it does not require any special API access.
The result: a working payment gateway that any individual in India can use today, without asking permission from anyone.
Payment Buttons
Embed on any website
Payment Links
Share anywhere
Direct Settlement
Straight to their UPI
Companion App
Auto-confirmation via SMS
Built by one person, bootstrapped from zero, live in production.
Product in production
Real customers, real revenue
Built and run by one developer
Raised so far - all bootstrapped
Detailed metrics shared directly with serious investors. Email to request.
Three things are true at the same time, and they rarely are.
UPI now reaches 491 million individuals and 65 million merchants. Source: PIB/NPCI. The payment rail exists. We just need the on-ramp for merchants who were never given access to it.
UroPay is not a pitch deck. It is a working product with paying customers. The technical risk is already de-risked. Investment accelerates distribution, not discovery.
I did not read about this problem in a market report. I lost money because of it, twice. That kind of motivation does not fade when things get hard.
Right now, one person is doing everything. That is the ceiling. Here is what breaks it.
Reach the freelancers, tutors, coaches, and small online sellers who need this and do not know it exists yet.
Integrate UPI API from a bank to remove dependence on SMS reading. Currently I do not have the money or the reach to get started on banking API.
Right now I handle every support ticket. That is not scalable. It needs to be, without losing the personal quality of support that users actually notice.
RBI regulations evolve. Staying ahead of them requires legal resources I cannot currently afford to retain on a bootstrapper's budget.
I am Gaurav Chandra. I built UroPay, I run the servers, I answer support tickets, and I am the one who will respond to your email - probably within a few hours.
If you are interested in what we are building, send me an email. Tell me who you are and what you are looking for. I will share whatever you need - numbers, architecture, the roadmap, a call.
No deck required to start the conversation. Just email me.
You can also find me on LinkedIn.
Quick Reference
Integrate UPI payments directly into your platform with developer-first API. Zero transaction fees, reliable webhooks, and dedicated partner support, so you can focus on building your core product.
