Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is drawing fresh capital from a mix of technology, financial services, and consumer brands as it prepares for its next phase of expansion. The government-backed digital commerce network is raising ₹430 crore from strategic investors including Zoho, Uber, Paytm, NSE, BSE Technologies, SBI, PNB, Amul and others, according to regulatory filings accessed from the Registrar of Companies.
The latest round reflects continued confidence in ONDC’s role as a foundational layer for India’s digital commerce ecosystem. Of the total amount, ₹220 crore has already been received, while the remaining ₹210 crore is expected to come in one or more tranches from both existing and new investors. The funding comes at a time when ONDC is looking beyond early adoption and toward a more mature operating model built around scale, interoperability and sector-wide participation.
Strategic Backing Across Sectors
The investor list itself says a lot about the network’s positioning. Zoho emerged as the largest contributor in the current tranche with ₹70 crore, while Uber and Paytm invested ₹60 crore each. BSE Technologies, the technology arm of the Bombay Stock Exchange, added ₹30 crore. In the next tranche, the National Stock Exchange, Quality Council of India, Punjab National Bank, Amul and NAFED are each slated to invest ₹30 crore, while the State Bank of India is expected to contribute ₹60 crore.
This wide mix of investors signals that ONDC is being viewed not merely as a commerce platform, but as a piece of national digital infrastructure with relevance across payments, marketplaces, logistics, retail, agriculture and public sector enablement. The capital infusion also suggests that institutional stakeholders continue to see value in the network’s long-term ability to lower barriers for sellers and widen access to digital commerce.
ONDC 2.0 Takes Shape
The fresh funds are intended to support ONDC’s transition into ONDC 2.0, a strategy focused on strengthening the network as a digital commerce backbone for the country. That includes investment in AI-led and agentic commerce initiatives, digital public infrastructure projects such as DigiCatalog, quality assurance systems, and expansion into key business verticals.
This next phase appears aimed at moving ONDC beyond its original role as an interoperability framework and into a more intelligent, scalable commerce infrastructure. By embedding AI and automation into the network architecture, ONDC is signaling an effort to improve discovery, streamline buyer-seller interactions, and create a more seamless experience for businesses operating on the platform.
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Building Scale for the Network Economy
ONDC, which is backed by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, was designed to reduce entry barriers for businesses and bring more participants into India’s digital commerce economy. The network processed 218 million transactions in FY26, a sign that the platform has already reached meaningful scale even as it continues to refine its product and operating model.
The new funding round comes at an important moment for the network. As digital commerce becomes more competitive and more deeply tied to AI, data, and platform intelligence, ONDC’s ability to evolve into a resilient national infrastructure layer will likely determine how much influence it can exert over the next phase of India’s commerce digitisation.
MSMEs Remain Central To ONDC
A key part of ONDC’s original promise has been its ability to open market access for smaller businesses, and that remains central to the network’s direction. Zoho’s earlier ₹70 crore investment was explicitly tied to supporting sovereign digital infrastructure and expanding technology access for MSMEs, reinforcing the idea that the platform’s growth is linked to the broader digital empowerment of small businesses.
If ONDC 2.0 succeeds, it could deepen the network’s role across India’s commerce stack by combining interoperability, AI, quality assurance and public digital infrastructure into one integrated framework. That would make the platform more relevant not just for large institutions, but for the millions of smaller sellers and service providers that depend on accessible digital channels.
