Exclusive: Tiger Global to lead $35 Mn round in fintech startup Yap

Fintech infrastructure provider Yap is in late-stage talks to raise $30-35 million in a new round from new and existing backers, said three people aware of the details of the transaction. 

“Tiger Global is likely to lead the round whereas existing investors including Omidyar, Flourish Ventures and Beenext would also participate,” said one the person cited above requesting anonymity.

If the deal gets through, it would be the second fundraise for the firm in 2021. The company had raised a $10 million Series B round led by Omidyar Network and Flourish. Existing investors such as Better Capital, 8i Venture and DMI Group also participated in the round that valued Yap in the range of $70 million.

“Yap’s valuation is set to be 4X of its previous one. It will be valued at over $300 million in the Series C round,” said a second person who also wished not to be named as talks are private. The terms of the deal are almost finalised and if nothing goes wrong at the last minute, the deal will get through in a few weeks from now.

Queries sent to Tiger didn’t elicit any immediate response while Yap’s co-founder Madhusudanan R had declined to offer any comment for the story.

Yap’s API enables businesses and platforms to offer their own branded financial services through partnerships with fintech companies while ensuring regulatory compliance. The company competes with Setu and Signzy, Setu and Decentro. 

Apart from India, the Dubai-headquartered company also operates in the UAE and has partnered with RAK bank to launch a digital banking platform in the Emirates.

For Tiger Global, Yap will be the fourth fintech investment in 2021. The New York-based fund had already invested in Groww, CRED, Progcap and is in the last leg to lead up to a $500 million new round in BharatPe at a valuation of over $2.7 billion (post-money).