03/03/2026
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Travel Startup Shakeup: Ex-CRED Insider Just Acquired a Kunal Shah–Backed Brand—Here’s Why It Matters

  • August 14, 2025
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What happens when a founding member of CRED snaps up a startup backed by Kunal Shah himself? You get StampMyVisa’s acquisition of Teleport, and it could be one

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Travel Startup Shakeup: Ex-CRED Insider Just Acquired a Kunal Shah–Backed Brand—Here’s Why It Matters

What happens when a founding member of CRED snaps up a startup backed by Kunal Shah himself? You get StampMyVisa’s acquisition of Teleport, and it could be one of the most exciting traveltech moves India has seen—exploding how we handle visas, forever.


Surprise Acquisition That’s Turning Heads

A Gurugram-based B2B platform, StampMyVisa, has acquired Teleport, the bold traveltech startup favoured by millennial and Gen-Z travellers in India and backed by top names including Kunal Shah, Vidit Aatrey, and Phanindra Sama.

What makes it juicy? The founder of SMV was part of CRED’s early team—so in one swift move, he’s acquired a startup backed by his onetime leader. Talk about full circle.


What’s the Prize?

This isn’t just business as usual. SMV brings scalpel-sharp visa infrastructure and stamp-processing muscle. Teleport brings user trust, brand affinity, and consumer innovation.

Together, they’re gunning to deliver the “most seamless and trusted visa experience” in India—a claim that’s already backed by numbers:

  • 50,000+ visas processed
  • 4X revenue in just 8 months
  • 99.5% success rate
  • Visa processing for 60+ countries

They’re already the backbone for travel agents, OTAs, corporate clients, and MICE operations—and now, they’re going glam (and grand).


Consumer Meets Backbone: It’s a Perfect Fusion

Teleports’ founder Nikita Dresswala says they built the brand to reinvent global travel for modern Indian explorers. Now, SMV’s infrastructure ensures that vision scales—fast.

Meanwhile, SMV knew exactly what it was missing: youth-driven brand appeal, digital savviness, and a direct line to new-age travelers. This deal gives them all of that.


Who’s Powering the Move?

Pravin Wadekar, SMV co-founder and MakeMyTrip alum, adds serious operational chops—bolstering their backend and enabling new heights in reliability and trust.

Plus, with a $3 million funding round already in advanced talks, expect aggressive growth, product innovation, and market expansion.


Bottom Line: This Changes Everything

Visa processing is one of the last great pain points in travel. SMV and Teleport pairing up is all about tackling that friction head-on—with flair, speed, and scale.

Say goodbye to visa stress, midnight stall queues, and confusing paperwork. The future of global travel is going to be seamless, intuitive, and shockingly effortless—and it might just start from this powerhouse merger.



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