BharatPe Raises $108 Million; Nears Unicorn Status
BharatPe raises $108 million in funding, at a valuation of $900 million.
Fintech major BharatPe said it has raised $108 million (over Rs 786 crore) in funding, led by existing investor Coatue Management, at a valuation of $900 million (over Rs 6,551 crore).
The company has raised $90 million in primary fund raise and also ensured secondary exit for its angel investors and employees for a total amount of $18 million, a statement said.
The series D round also saw participation from all seven existing institutional investors Coatue Management, Ribbit Capital, Insight Partners, Steadview Capital, Beenext, Amplo and Sequoia Capital, it added.
With this round, the company has raised a total of $268 million in equity and debt till date, the statement.
"We, at BharatPe, do not celebrate fund raises as it is akin to procuring raw material. We are super excited though to have returned Rs 125 crore of capital to angels and all ESOP holders, earning them one of the highest returns on investment. The team is committed to make money for all stakeholders, investors, lenders, borrowers, employees and banks," BharatPe co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Ashneer Grover said.
With the balance sheet well-capitalised (more than $200 million in bank), BharatPe can deliver $30 billion total payment volume and build a loan book of $700 million with small merchants by March 2023, he added.
2020 has been an unprecedented year for all. However, we at BharatPe have grown exponentially - our payments business has grown 5x and our lending business has grown 10x in the last 12 months. This growth reiterates the trust that the small merchants and kirana store owners have shown in us.Ashneer Grover, CEO, BharatPe
Last month, the company announced that it had raised Rs 249 crore ($35 million) in debt from venture debt providers Alteria Capital, InnoVen Capital and Trifecta Capital and Rs 49 crore from ICICI Bank Ltd.
BharatPe facilitated over Rs 200 crore of loans to its merchant partners every month through its non-bank finance company partners.
It has deployed more than 50,000 point-of-sale machines and enables transactions of more than Rs 900 crore per month on its PoS machines. The company has a presence in 75 cities in the country.