Financial firm BankBazaar gets $30 Mn in Series-D round led by Experian

Financial marketplace BankBazaar has raised $30 million from Experian, a UK-based credit rating agency and information management company in its Series-D round of funding.

Following the investment, Experian has picked up a 10 per cent stake in BankBazaar. This brings the Amazon-backed company’s total funding to $110 million. Experian will join investors such as Amazon, Sequoia, Eight Roads, and Walden International on BankBazaar’s board.

The latest round values BankBazaar at $300 million. With this new funding, BankBazaar will bring more customers on board through marketing, reported ET.

Earlier this year, Experian and BankBazaar tied up to provide customers with a free credit score service.

Chennai-based BankBazaar was founded in 2008 by Adhil Shetty, Arjun Shetty, and Rati Shetty. It helps consumers compare offers across various banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) for products such as credit and debit cards, loans, savings and investment products, and insurance.

"The funds from this round will be used to further strengthen our position as the leader in secure paperless access to loans, cards, and mutual funds. Experian will enable us to accelerate towards our vision of paperless access to all financial products" said Adhil Shetty, CEO, BankBazaar.

The company will hire 400 more people by the end of the financial year and will also focus on expansion to new markets, starting with Malaysia. It currently sees 50 million visits per quarter. The company also looks to be EBITDA (Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization) positive by March next year.

Sequoia and Amazon are the largest shareholders in BankBazaar, holding approximately 20 per cent and 17 per cent stake, respectively. Earlier, the company had raised Rs 375 crore in 2015 led by Amazon Inc.

Based out of Dublin, Experian is a London Stock Exchange-listed consumer credit reporting agency, which employs 17,000 people across 37 countries.

Gurugram-based PolicyBazaar, a close competitor of BankBazaar raised Rs 500 crores of funding led by global asset management firm Wellington Management, private equity firm True North and IDG Ventures India. A new entrant in this segment, Coverfox raised $15 million led by US insurer Transamerica and its existing investors.

The Indian government has approved the ordinance to increase Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) limit in insurance sector from 26 per cent to 49 per cent which would further help attract investments in the sector.

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