Exclusive: Amazon leads fresh round in BankBazaar

Bankbazaar, an online marketplace for financial products, has raised Rs 29 crore in a fresh round led by Amazon and other existing investors. The external equity round has come within weeks of raising Rs 16 crore from Sequoia, Gus Holdings and Iype Isac in March.

The Chennai based company has allotted 63,036 Series D1 non participating compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS) at Rs 4611.7 per share, regulatory filings show. Amazon has invested Rs 5.68 crore while Sequoia infused Rs 2.6 crore. 

GUS Holdings has put in Rs 2.3 crore and the company’s promoters Adhil Shetty and Arjun Shetty have invested Rs 2.6 crore and Rs 3.2 crore respectively. Other investors include Navaneetha Krishnan, Sriram V, Murari Sridharan and Iype Isac.

This is the first tranche of a D1 round and BankBazaar is expected to raise more capital in what appears to be an ongoing round. 

Founded by Adhil Shetty, Arjun Shetty and Rati Shetty in 2008, BankBazaar helps consumers compare offers across various banks and non-banking financial companies for products including credit cards, loans, savings and investment products, and insurance.

Following this round, Amazon now holds 16.42% stake, Walden has 15.32% and Adhil Shetty has 7.7% stake in the 12-year old firm. With a 20% stake, Sequoia India is the biggest stakeholder in Bankbazaar.

According to Entrackr’s calculation, BankBazaar’s estimated valuation post this infusion is at about Rs 2,011 crore.

While BankBazaar was scouting for a large funding round ~$80 to 100 million ~ for about a year, it looks like its efforts didn’t pay well. 

BankBazaar had projected to achieve profitability in the ongoing fiscal but it appears an uphill task when we factor in its financial performance in FY19. The company had a net loss of Rs 169.2 crore with negative operating cash flows amounting to Rs 133.28 crore.