Exclusive: Groww in talks to raise money from Tiger Global; inches closer to unicorn status

Millennials-focused investment app Groww is in conversations with new and existing investors to mop up over $100 million in a fresh round, said three people aware of the details. If the ongoing talks go through, the new round would come for the firm within six months of its Series C round.

“Ribbit Capital and Tiger Global are in an advanced stage to lead a $100-125 million worth Series D round in Groww along with significant participation from Sequoia Capital,” said one of the sources on condition of anonymity. 

Tiger Global is an existing investor in Groww’s rival Upstox and INDMoney.

Sources emphasised that the Bengaluru-based firm will be valued in the range of $850 million to $1 billion. This would be over a 3X jump in Groww’s valuation in less than a year. According to sources, it was valued in the range of $250-300 million in its Series C round.

Groww would join the likes of social commerce firm Meesho that is in talks with SoftBank to raise $250 million at a 3X premium on its last valuation. B2B payments platform Razorpay’s valuation also rose by over 2.3X in its last round which gave it an entry into the coveted unicorn club. 

“Groww has been growing at a quick pace since the start of the ongoing fiscal and recently crossed 12 million registered user base,” said the second person who requested not to be named. The strong growth and overall momentum in the fintech segment is driving its valuation, the person added.

Entrackr’s immediate queries to Groww, Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital didn’t elicit any response. We will update the story in case they respond. Tiger Global declined to offer comment. 

Besides mutual funds and SIP investors, the company has cornered a significant number of stock traders as interest in the public markets has gone up significantly since the start of the pandemic. Over the past six to eight months, Groww has been aggressively spending on consumer acquisition and this could be evident from its Blitzkrieg advertising campaigns.

Groww lets users invest in SIPs, mutual funds, stocks (including Futures and Options), gold and fixed deposit. Akin to IndMoney, it also allows trading of stocks in US-based firms. 

As of now, the company has raised about $60 million across three institutional rounds. YC Continuity Fund had led a $30 million worth Series C round in Groww in September.

Groww competes with Zerodha, Upstox, IndMoney and Paytm Money. While Zerodha has a pole position in the stock trading space, there are multiple players who have been fighting it out for a dominant market share in the space of mutual funds and SIP, etc. Such platforms include ETMONEY and Cube Wealth.