Prabhu Ram

Prabhu Ram is an Indian entrepreneur and angel investor best known for building payments companies. Public profiles and company sources identify him as a co-founder of E-Billing Solutions (EBS), which was acquired by Ingenico/Ogone, and as the former Managing Director and Group CEO of Payswiff, formerly Paynear Solutions. ContactOut lists his EBS role as CEO & Executive Director from 2004 to 2013, and his Paynear role from 2015 onward.

Paynear/Payswiff was founded by Prabhu Ram and co-founders including Priti Shah, Anil Bharadwaj, Ravi Kiran, Krishna Kishore, and Maulik Shah. The company built omni-channel payment and merchant transaction solutions, including mPOS/POS, online payment gateway, and merchant tools. In 2015, Paynear raised $2.5 million in pre-Series A funding from Mitesh Majithia, and Ram described the company’s mission as activating “the second rung of the market for card payments” by helping merchants engage and reward customers.

In 2017, Paynear acquired Singapore-based GoSwiff, giving the company access to GoSwiff’s network across roughly 20 markets and 20+ banks. Ram told Inc42 that entering regulated transaction-services markets usually takes significant time and cost, and that GoSwiff’s banking relationships and market presence were a major reason for the acquisition. Paynear later rebranded as Payswiff.

In 2022, Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company acquired a majority stake in Payswiff for up to Rs 450 crore; regulatory and media reports said Payswiff became a Chola subsidiary. Ram is now listed as Founder & CEO of Black Gold Recycling, a Hyderabad-based circular-economy company focused on e-waste, plastics, lithium-ion batteries, and critical-mineral recovery, and as a Strategic Advisor to Maihoo Technologies. LinkedIn and ContactOut list his education at Bharathidasan University from 1995 to 1998.

• Public sources do not show a formal written angel-investing thesis from Ram; observable investments and advisory roles point to operator-led, India-focused seed investing.
• His known angel activity includes fintech/lending infrastructure and consumer internet/media: CB Insights attributes a March 2023 seed investment in Finsire to Prabhu Ram, and Inc42/DSIM reported him as an investor in Chaaipani’s January 2018 angel round.
• His strongest pattern is backing or advising businesses that need distribution, regulated operations, trust, or infrastructure build-out, consistent with his own payments background at EBS, Paynear, and Payswiff.
• In payments, Ram has emphasized merchant adoption beyond metros: Paynear’s stated mission was to activate the “second rung” of the market for card payments and help merchants engage customers through value-added services.
• His current Black Gold work suggests interest in circular-economy infrastructure, especially businesses that recover and reintegrate strategic materials rather than treating waste as disposal.