BharatPe becomes 19th unicorn in 2021 with $370 Mn round led by Tiger Global

Fintech startup BharatPe has raised $370 million in its Series E round led by Tiger Global Management. Dragoneer Investor Group, Steadfast Capital, Sequoia Capital, Insight Partners, Coatue Management, Amplo and Ribbit Capital also participated in the round.

According to the New Delhi-based startup, it raised the new round at a post-money valuation of $2.85 billion and becomes the 19th startup to turn into a unicorn in 2021. This is a three-fold jump in the company’s valuation within six months. It was valued at around $922 million during its last fundraise in February. 

The mega round also includes $20 million in secondary to create a liquidity event for its employees and angel investors. With this, BharatPe has become the fifth most valued fintech company in India after Paytm, PhonePe, Razorpay and Pine Labs.

The fundraise will be utilized to grow its existing business and to capitalize distressed Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank, said BharatPe in a press release. It’s worth noting that BharatPe has a banking licence with Centrum Group after the acquisition of under-administration Punjab and Maharashtra Bank.

BharatPe has also made significant changes to its top management. Ashneer Grover will be elevated to the Managing Director position whereas Suhail Sameer has been appointed as the new CEO of the company.

BharatPe claims to have disbursed around $300 million to merchant partners to date and has an outstanding loan book of $100 million. The company, which has a presence in 140 cities, further plans to increase its reach to 300 cities over the next 24 months. 

According to Entrackr’s sources, the company also has plans to enter the consumer segment with a buy now pay later (BNPL) product soon that will open up new avenues for the company.

Besides back to back equity rounds, the three-year-old company has been raising debt rounds at regular intervals. The company has raised around $34 million in debt from the likes of  ICICI, Alteria Capital, Innoven Capital and Northern Arc Capital. Moreover, it has passed a special resolution to raise up to Rs 1,300 crore in debt from certain investors for a period of one year.

Entrackr had exclusively reported the development of BharatPe’s plan of raising debt fund on July 21.