CRED, a fintech unicorn from India , has raised $140M in new capital (primary and secondary) from new and existing investors as part of its Series F fundraising round. GIC, a Singapore-based sovereign wealth fund, led the round.
Existing investors such as Sofina, Tiger Global, FalconEdge, and Dragoneer also participated in the round. The startup was valued at $6.4B in the investment round as a result of this.
Startup funding scenario
The investment comes at a time when the Indian startup ecosystem, like others across the world, is undergoing a significant shift in pricing and frequency of funding rounds. As a result of the declining market circumstances around the world, venture capital firms have put the brakes on writing fresh checks.
CRED is completing the acquisition of Smallcase, an Amazon-backed startup, at the time of the financing. CRED attempted to make an investment in Smallcase rather than purchase it in the early stages of the process.
CRED, which was founded in 2018 by Kunal Shah, gives premium credit card users prizes and benefits for paying credit bills. Later, the company diversified into online payment financing and short-term loans via Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) options. It also entered the peer-to-peer lending market last year.
By purchasing Happay, a company that provides all-in-one expense management software for enterprises, the platform expanded into corporate finance management.
Previous fundraises
The startup raised money in three phases in 2021: $81M in the Series C round, $215M in the Series D round, and lastly $251M in the Series E round. Since April 2021, the company has raised more than $466M.
CRED has now entered the ranks of unicorns such as Swiggy, Razorpay, PineLabs, and OYO, all of which have a valuation of more than $5B.
Meanwhile, GIC’s portfolio of high-ticket Indian fintech startups continues to grow. GIC and Tiger Global brought back shares worth $10M from Razorpay’s staff under the employee stock ownership scheme earlier this year (ESOP).
The sovereign investment fund also participated in Paytm’s $1.104 billion anchor round as part of its initial public offering in November.
