India Gets Its Fourth Unicorn In A Week As Groww Joins The Club
The Bengaluru-based startup raised $83 million in the round led by Tiger Global.
Groww completed a funding round valuing the company at more than $1 billion, making the millennial-focused investment platform the fourth Indian venture to become a unicorn in a week.
The Bengaluru-based startup raised $83 million in the round led by Tiger Global, according to its media statement. Its valuation has jumped fourfold in about seven months.
Existing investors including Sequoia Capital India, Ribbit Capital, YC Continuity and Propel Venture Partners also participated in the round. The company has raised about $142 million since inception, including $30 million in September.
Groww joins Meesho, Cred and PharmEasy's parent firm to have raised funds at more than $1 billion valuation this week. And it's the eighth to join the rapidly growing list of unicorns in the country this year as the pandemic has driven investor interest in technology firms. It competes with the likes of Zerodha, Upstox and Paytm Money that offer financial and broking services online. The firms saw user base explode with Covid-19 accelerating digital shift in Asia's third-largest economy.
Groww claims to have more than 15 million registered users, two-thirds of whom are first-time investors.
Founded by former Flipkart executives including Harsh Jain, Neeraj Singh, Lalit Keshre and Ishan Bansal, Groww allows users to invest in stocks, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, initial public offerings and gold.
Lalit Keshre, chief executive officer at Groww, said the fresh capital will be used to invest in new products, acquire talent and build its financial educational platform. "Only around 25 million people in India are investing in stocks or mutual funds. We will continue working to change this."