E-commerce firm POP has raised $2.4 million in a funding round led by India Quotient with participation from a few angel investors.

The Bengaluru-based startup also announced that it had received approval as a Third-Party Application Provider (TPAP) from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to offer UPI payments via its POPclub app.

The company has partnered with financial companies such as Yes Bank and Juspay to build the UPI stack.

The funding will help facilitate the implementation of various initiatives, including the POP UPI service, which will allow users to earn POPcoins, the shopping currency already used by more than 200 online merchants, in all UPI transactions made through the POPclub app.

“POP's goal is to become the most sought-after go-to platform for payments and shopping for digitally active young Indians. As consumer behaviors evolve, we aim to provide innovative app experiences tailored to their interests in daily consumption,” says Bhargav Errangi, founder and chief executive officer of POP.

Errangi, a former senior Director at Flipkart, has a track record of expanding loyalty programs such as Payback and Flipkart Supercoins.

Since launching in early May 5, POP has added more than 200 brands to its network, including mCaffeine, HUL-owned Simple Skin Care and Epigamia, with more than 400 million customers in the network. It is expected to grow to more than 500 brands and 1,000 million customers by the end of the year. The company's currency can be redeemed between different brands, as well as an alternative form of payment currency during shopping, and is available to all major direct consumers (D2C) brands.

“POPcoins-led rewards offer a predictable and consistent reward promise compared to the luck-based and gamified models of other UPI apps. These POPcoins can be effectively used to purchase over 100,000 SKUs our target audience consumes. Our ambition is to position POPcoins as the shopping currency for purchasing the new-age products/services that resonate with evolving new-age Indian consumer's preferences,” adds Errangi.