Goa-based Numadic is providing digital vehicle payment solutions since it was established in 2016. The company uses the FASTag ecosystem for logistics, banks, and automotive OEMs to offer the solutions.
The National Highway Authority of India adopted the FASTag idea, a radio frequency identification tag, in 2014 in order to make toll collection cashless and speedier. This was followed by an increase in toll payment collections, which increased from 16% in 2016-17 to over 96% in 2021-22.Aside from collecting tolls, the existing FASTag infrastructure is ready for expansion.
Luke Sequeira and Aprup Shet leapt on the chance to take use of the infrastructure and created Goa-based Numadic in 2016 as a vehicle interface platform for creating applications and APIs to allow autonomous car payments.
The SaaS firm, which developed its vehicle payment technology on the FASTag ecosystem, provides a streamlined solution for banks, logistics, and car OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) to issue FASTags. It also offers an interaction platform for end customers and automobile payment software.
Luke, CEO and Founder of Numadic, stated, “We are a payments firm that facilitates and streamlines automobile payments.”
Numadic assists in automating and digitising these payments, as well as integrating with banks, insurance firms, and others to develop the underlying infrastructure.
The startup has been engaged in the fleet payments area since 2016. It collaborated with huge corporations to track third-party fleets using GPS and generate bills.
While the freight and logistics industry was congested with numerous companies, Luke saw that there was little innovation in digitising vehicle payments.
In 2017-18, the founders began working on this gap of automated payments, pivoting from the operational side of fleet management to the transactional side.
“Payments must be digitised long before vehicle movement can be automated. This business opportunity comes at an ideal moment since automobile payments will be totally automated over the next five to ten years,” he says.
While the firm encountered the first obstacles usual to most startups—such as dealing with major corporations that don’t pay on time, it also faced issues in attracting senior personnel in Goa since it was not being taken seriously for being a Goa-based startup.
Luke adds, “For a tiny firm like Numadic to thrive, obtaining access to top people was crucial and we were able to do that in a year. It’s also unusual for startups from Goa to be well-known in India’s IT sector.”
He claims that, until recently, Goa lacked both facilities and a skill pool from which to employ. Also, until recently, Goa was unable to recruit long-term workers.
While the firm encountered the first obstacles usual to most startups—such as dealing with major corporations that don’t pay on time, it also faced issues in attracting senior personnel in Goa since it was not being taken seriously for being a Goa-based startup.
“However, with the start of COVID-19, the approach has shifted, with remote working now being more acceptable, and Goa is being treated with a little more seriously,” he says.
Because car payment was a novel concept, the team was sceptical of the issue description, the solutions on offer, and their ability to deliver.
Numadic works with commercial clients, licencing its proprietary SaaS platform for a fixed charge depending on the number of active users and income from specific sorts of transactions.
“It took us around three and a half years to get to the point where the platform was monetisable and reliable. “
The B2B firm provides two complete automobile payment solutions. NU Issuance manages the digitisation of FASTag transactions for different platforms like as Google Pay, Amazon, and others, as well as bank applications, and facilitates the sale and purchase of FASTags and related car items.
Meanwhile, NU Toll offers digital tolling, user success monitoring, and toll transaction analytics via mobile and online applications.
The business creates FASTag APIs for prominent FASTag issuer banks in India by leveraging the FASTag network developed by National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC), allowing third parties to build apps on top of car transactions, credits and debits, and so on.
It offers the infrastructure to employ FASTags at sites such as gasoline stations, parking areas, traffic stops for fine collection, etc.
Luke explains, “Rather of having to integrate with various banks or oil firms, Numadic can quickly deploy it through FASTag.”
To employ FASTags for gasoline payments, the business has partnered with Hindustan Petroleum and Indian Oil. The trial programme began in October of last year.
In 2021, ICICI Bank and IDFC First Bank will introduce FASTag-enabled fuel payments at certain locations in collaboration with petroleum providers such as Indian Oil and Hindustan Petroleum, utilising scanning tags created by Numadic. The goal of this project is to create a website that will allow you to pay your bills online.
In October 2021, Numadic secured $2.5 million in a Pre-Series A fundraising round headed by 9Unicorns and Venture Catalysts. It has around 39 members.
Luke is a tech entrepreneur who has had positions in technology in India, Canada, and Europe. He is also the creator of StartupGoa.org, which aims to assist tech firms emerge from Goan soil.
Luke explains, “We quadrupled our revenue the prior financial year and we are on course to triple our revenue this FY.”
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