Kumar Bahukhandi
For decades, Indian exporters have quietly absorbed high foreign exchange (FX) costs as an unavoidable part of global trade. While Indian products, services, and talent became globally competitive, the infrastructure supporting cross-border payments remained expensive, opaque, and slow – eroding margins through hidden FX spreads and delayed settlements.
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Anand Balaji, Co-founder and CEO, Xflow
Over the last few months, as global markets grew volatile and export margins tightened, these inefficiencies became impossible to ignore. It was this exact problem that led Ashwin Bhatnagar, Anand Balaji, and Abhijit Chandrasekaran to start Xflow, with a mission to make international payments transparent, fast, and affordable for Indian businesses.
“When we started Xflow, most exporters didn’t actually know what they were paying to receive international payments, high FX spreads were buried in fine print and treated as inevitable. Only large enterprises could negotiate better terms. We believed transparency had to be the starting point,” said Ashwin Bhatnagar, Co-founder, Xflow.
Solving the First Problem: FX Transparency
From day one, Xflow began displaying the mid-market FX benchmark rate in real time, alongside fully transparent FX spreads linked to globally accepted benchmarks. For many customers, this shift led to immediate savings.
For most businesses using Xflow, the FX costs dropped by 50% and more importantly, exporters finally knew what they were paying – and why.
From Payments to FX Intelligence
With transparency in place, Xflow addressed a deeper challenge: exporters were still forced to react to FX rates rather than plan around them. To solve this, Xflow introduced enterprise-grade FX capabilities – traditionally available only to large corporates – to SMBs, agencies, and freelancers:
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Live FX Booking: Track real-time FX rates and choose when to convert, ensuring predictable INR outcomes
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AI-Powered FX Insights: Analyze millions of data points across markets, news, and trends to generate actionable FX signals
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Limit Orders: Set target FX rates and automate conversions when markets hit the desired level
“We wanted to turn FX from a passive cost into an active margin lever,” said Bhatnagar. “Even small improvements in timing can materially impact profitability at scale.”
Real Impact for Growing Exporters
Today, Xflow works with 30,000+ Indian exporters across IT services, SaaS, agencies, and freelance businesses. Many report settlement times reducing from (1-2 days) to under 24 hours, along with better control over FX outcomes.
“Xflow has been a game-changer for us,” said Mayank Pandey, Founder & Director, Elbroz Media Pvt. Ltd. “Faster settlements and tools like FX AI Analyst and limit orders allow us to convert at rates we’re comfortable with – not reactively.”
About Xflow
Xflow – a leading fintech offering cross-border payments for SMEs (ITES & Funded Startups). Designed to eliminate inefficiencies in international transactions, Xflow offers a seamless, transparent, and fully compliant payment experience for businesses of all sizes – from freelancers and startups to large-scale enterprises. The company is currently servicing over 10,000 businesses & has processed hundreds of millions.
Founded by Anand Balaji, Ashwin Bhatnagar and Abhijit Chandrasekaran, Xflow simplifies global money movement with innovative solutions that ensure effortless international transactions, efficient currency conversion, instant settlements, and full regulatory compliance. Headquartered in Bangalore, India, Xflow is backed by Lightspeed, General Catalyst, and Stripe, providing a strong financial foundation for long-term innovation.
