Dhan Eyes Up To $150 Mn Funding At A Unicorn Valuation

Trading platform Dhan’s parent Raise Financial Services is reportedly in discussions with private equity (PE) firm ChrysCapital and two other US-based investors to raise $100 Mn to $150 Mn at a unicorn valuation. 

The funding round is expected to be finalised in the next 30-45 days and could likely peg the trading platform at $1 Bn from $125 Mn currently, Economic Times reported, citing sources. 

This effectively means that Dhan will potentially see a 9X increase in its valuation and become the second unicorn of 2025, after Netradyne.

As per the report, ChrysCapital has issued a term sheet to Dhan, outlining key terms and conditions, including valuation. Meanwhile, the two other undisclosed foreign investors have also submitted their bids to participate in the round.

“There are three bids that’s come so far. ChrysCapital is keen to pick up a stake, given its broad focus on the financial services sector with bets like Bandhan Bank, Hero FinCorp and others,” a source was quoted as saying. 

Meanwhile, the report added that other investors, including US-based fund LeftLane Capital, have also held talks with Dhan in recent weeks but are yet to issue a term sheet. As per the report, the fresh fundraise will boost the Mumbai-based startup’s current cash reserves of $100 Mn and enable it to diversify it into other financial services businesses.

Inc42 has reached out to ChrysCapital and Dhan for comments on the development. The story will be updated based on the responses. 

The development comes six months after reports first surfaced that the trading platform was looking to raise nearly $100 Mn at a unicorn valuation of $1.2 Bn to $1.5 Bn. 

Founded in 2021 by Jay Prakash Gupta, Pravin Jadhav, and Alok Pandey, Raise Financial Services operates in the Indian stock broking space and primarily targets users in Tier I and II cities. Its portfolio of products consists of stock broking app Dhan, the “Option Trader” app to facilitate options trading, an API platform for traders called DhanHQ API, among others.

In January 2022, the startup raised $22 Mn in a round led by BEENEXT. It is also backed by the likes of Mirae Asset Venture Investments as well as angel investors such as CRED’s Kunal Shah, Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamoorthy, PhonePe founders Sameer Nigam and Rahul Chari, Amrish Rau of Pine Labs, among others. 

Raise Financial Services acquired Moneylicious Securities in 2021 and integrated it with the Dhan platform. Last month, Raise Financial Services also acquired new-age media startup Filter Coffee for an undisclosed amount. 

Dhan competes with the likes of Zerodha, IPO-bound Groww and Angel One.

As per Care Ratings, trading app Dhan’s parent Moneylicious Securities Private Limited (MSPL) reported a net profit of INR 159 Cr in FY24 as against a loss of INR 27 Cr in the previous year. Total income jumped 677% to INR 373 Cr in the fiscal year under review from INR 48 Cr in FY23.