India’s BharatPe Notches $108 Million In Funding, Valued At $900 Million

Indian lending and digital payments startup BharatPe raised $108 million in a Series D funding round at a valuation of $900 million led by Coatue Management, according to a Thursday (Feb. 11) press release.

Returning investors Ribbit Capital, Insight Partners, Steadview Capital, Beenext, Amplo and Sequoia Capital also participated in the round. The New Delhi payments platform raised $75 million in Series C round in February 2020, a total of $268 million to date.

“The team is committed to making money for all stakeholders — investors, lenders, borrowers, employees and banks,” BharatPe Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Ashneer Grover said in the release. The executive added that the firm has a balance sheet with over $200 million. “We are now going to keep our heads down and deliver $30 billion TPV and build a loan book of $ 700 million with small merchants by March 2023.”

BharatPe was co-founded by Grover and Shashvat Nakrani in 2018 to facilitate financial inclusion for Indian merchants. BharatPe was behind many firsts in India — the first UPI interoperable QR code; ZERO MDR payment acceptance service; and UPI payment backed merchant cash advance service.

BharatSwipe powers India’s first and only ZERO MDR card acceptance terminals. The company works with 50 lakh merchants across 35 cities. The company said in the past 12 months, its payments business saw 5x growth and its lending business 10x.

When the company raised $75 million in a Series C funding round last year, it was valued at $400 million. BharatPe works with small businesses around the country, offering merchants a QR code backed up by the country’s UPI payments structure. India has over 560 million internet users, making it the second-largest online market in the world behind China.