Decoding WeRize’s pre-Series B round and shareholding pattern

Full-stack financial services platform WeRize had recently raised $15.5 million in a pre-Series B round led by existing investor 3one4 Capital. British International Investment and Sony Ventures Corporation also joined the round along with existing investors.

The Bengaluru-based company did not provide further details about the financing round at the time, but Fintrackr has sifted through regulatory filings to decode details such as breakup of funding round, shareholding pattern and valuation of the startup.

The board at WeRize had passed a special resolution to allot 31,670 pre-Series B compulsory convertible preference shares (CCPS) at issue price of Rs 38,172.83 per share to raise Rs 121 crore or $15.5 million, the company’s regulatory filing with RoC shows.

3one4 Capital has spearheaded the financing round by infusing Rs 38.75 crore ($5 million) followed by British International Investment (BII) which put in Rs 23.25 crore ($3 million). Sony Ventures Corporation via Sony Innovation Fund, Kalaari Capital and Picus Capital invested Rs 15.5 crore ($2 million) each. Orios Venture Partners also joined the round and infused the remaining sum of Rs 12.4 crore.

As per Fintrackr’s estimates, the company has been valued at around Rs 896 crore or $115 million (post-money). The company has raised nearly $26 million ($25.75 million) till date including Series A round of $8 million.

Founded by former Lendingkart executives Vishal Chopra and Himanshu Gupta, WeRize sells and distributes a wide portfolio of customized credit, insurance, and savings products for 300 million individuals spread across more than 4,000 tier II to tier IV towns. The company leverages insights from these data points to create customized credit, group insurance, and savings products.

Following the infusion of pre-Series B, co-founders of WeRize - Vishal Chopra and Himanshu Gupta – collectively hold 42.61% stakes. Kalaari Capital, 3one4 Capital, Orios Venture and Picus Capital own 16.1%, 13.46%, 10.18% and 7.26% stakes respectively. The complete shareholding structure of the company can be seen below:

While WeRize is yet to disclose its financial numbers for FY22, the operating revenue of the company grew 5.4X to Rs 3.16 crore in FY21 from nearly Rs 60 lakh in FY20. As per its annual financial statements filed with RoC, the losses of the startup also surged 53% to Rs 7.12 crore during FY21 from Rs 4.65 crore in the preceding fiscal year (FY20).

Last year, WeRize claimed that it is a profitable entity and is on target to become EBITDA positive by early 2022. It further aims to reach a $100 million revenue run rate in the next two years, and expects to double it to $200 million by the end of 2025.