Razorpay Hands Over IPL Ad Space to India’s Startup Founders

B2B brand advertising amidst the IPL is rare. Even rarer is giving that real estate away to your clients. Razorpay, India’s leading full-stack payments and banking platform for businesses leveraged India’s cricketing screen time to spotlight 37 homegrown businesses, because according to Harshil Mathur, CEO and co-founder of Razorpay, “For years, cricket ad breaks have belonged to celebrities. This year, we flipped the script, handing the spotlight to 37 individuals, not entertainers, but builders; founders creating jobs, solving real problems, and shaping India’s future.”

Talented conceptualised and produced 37 unique ads for the IPL across, featuring founders from 37 startups, shot across 3 cities. Some are calling it a masterclass in B2B marketing. Speaking on the scale of the project, brand strategy at Talented, Yash Dugar added, “From day one, we knew we did not want another flashy IPL spot people forget by the next over. We wanted to hand the mic to the real builders – the ones Razorpay was built for. 30 days, quick pivots and a lot of heart. Every time one of those films aired, and a founder shared it like it was their own, we were proud, emotional, and reminded why we do this: to make work that’s seen, and felt.”

What began as a Razorpay-led tribute has evolved into a movement powered by the ecosystem. It started with Razorpay creating over 100 custom ads for their founders from Rize, its start up accelerator program. Each custom film showcased the founder’s vision and mission in what is not a one-size-fits-all video template. What followed was unexpected: founders remixed their Razorpay-created films into origin stories, vision monologues, and mission-led content, making the campaign their own. It sparked a wave of user-generated content from the start up ecosystem itself.

Following the wave, wild card entries joined the IPL line up: Internet sensation turned D2C founder Kusha Kapila, and Shark Tank S2 panellist Ritesh Agarwal. Kusha, who recently launched Underneat, said, “Being part of a wave that doesn’t put fame before ambition is refreshing for creators like me. Razorpay handed the mic to the people building quietly. I loved being part of that energy!”

The ripple effect reached national institutions like iStart Rajasthan, who backed the campaign and nominated two state-based start-ups, stated, “From AI and agritech to mobility and manufacturing, Rajasthan’s start-ups are solving real problems at scale.” The Ministry of Electronics and IT praised the initiative, saying it celebrated “India’s boldest innovators who are building with purpose and redefining what’s possible.”

With Razorpay sharing the most coveted ad space in the country to its customers, it’s clear they aren’t going for advertising, but advocacy. As Apuarv Sethi, SVP marketing at Razorpay stated, “These are the people solving hard problems, creating jobs, and building the future. As a brand built to support them, it was only right we gave them the mic.”