BHARATPE CLOSE TO UNICORN TAG WITH AROUND $108 MN FUNDING
BENGALURU: Lending and digital payments startup Bharatpe has raised close to $108 million in Series D primary and secondary equity funding led by existing investor New York-headquartered hedge fund Coatue Management at a valuation of $900 million, said a company executive.
All of Bharatpe’s seven investors including Ribbit Capital, Insight Partners, Steadview Capital, Beenext, Amplo and Sequoia Capital participated in this round. The primary infusion constituted $90 million of the total fund-raise, with $18 million secondary funding, providing an exit to most of its angel investors.
The funding comes a year after it raised $75 million in its Series C funding round in February 2020.
The three-year old company has seen its valuation jump by almost $500 million since then.
Bharatpe aims to raise another $100 million post March, as it looks to ramp up its credit offerings. Mint in January first reported on Bharatpe’s plan to raise $200 million, and close $100 million in equity funding in the current financial year.
“The Series D round got oversubscribed within the last two weeks of December 2020. We will continue to focus on our plans with this fund-raise, and continue deepening the credit ecosystem for our merchants. We are clear that we want to stay aligned with categories in financial services that will provide us margins, contributing to our growth,” said Ashneer Grover, co-founder and chief executive officer, Bharatpe.
The startup has also teamed up with Centrum Group to submit a joint expression of interest to the Reserve Bank of India to take over the distressed assets of Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank. The fresh funding will also help the company put liquidity into the bank for depositors, with plans to turn PMC Bank into a digital-first entity. Grover declined to comment on this.