The year 2021 has turned out to be a golden one for the growing startups in India as 17 new companies gained the status of a unicorn.
The latest entrant to the list is BharatPe, a New Delhi-based Merchant payments and financial services provider. Also, this is the fifth fintech startup to get unicorn status this year.
The company has raised $370 million as a part of a Series E funding round led by new investor New York-based Tiger Global Management.
This round of funding also includes $20 million to create a liquidity event for employees and angel investors in the company.
The startling fact is that the valuation has shot up more than threefold to $2.85 billion in six months. Earlier this year, $108mn was raised at a valuation of $900mn.
The funds are to be used to support the growth of its existing business, an ambitious 10x over the next two years. Also, the fund will be utilized for rejuvenating Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank(PMC) alongside Centrum Financial Services.
RBI has issued in-principle approval to Centrum Financial Services Limited (Centrum), the established and profitable NBFC arm of the Centrum Group, to establish a Small Finance Bank (SFB) as equal partners.
Ashneer Grover, the co-founder, said that the funds will be sufficient for the next three years, with their primary focus on lending to core businesses and small merchants. Also, he said that there are no plans for any acquisitions and that they may choose to go for an IPO post the three years.
