[Update] Exclusive: CredAvenue Bags $137 Mn From Insight Partners, B Capital At Unicorn Valuation

Update| 6th March, 11:00 PM

Three hours after Inc42 exclusively reported that CredAvenue has entered the unicorn club with funding from Insight Partners, B Capital, Dragoneer Investment Group, among others, the Chennai-based startup officially confirmed the development. The fresh round of $137 Mn helped the startup valuation soar to $1.3 Bn valuation.

The startup intends to use the funds to expand the business in India along with key global markets, organically and inorganically, by acquiring diverse companies for the forward and backward services and products integration.

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Original Story | Published On 6th March, 4:00 PM

Chennai-based fintech startup CredAvenue is the new entrant to the unicorn club after raising around $135 Mn in its Series B funding round. The fresh round was led by New York-based Insight Partners. 

The round further saw participation from new investors such as BYJU’s and Meesho’s backer – B Capital. Another new investor participating in the round was CRED backer Dragoneer Investment Group. 

As per the recent regulatory filings accessed by Inc42, the round further saw participation from its existing heavy investors such as Sequoia Capital, Lightrock, Lightspeed Ventures, and TVS Capital, among others. As per Inc42’s estimate, with this funding, CredAvenue’s valuation touches $1.2 Bn.

For the fresh round worth $135 Mn (INR 1,028.3 Cr) CredAvenue has allocated a total of 1,05,90,170 Series B CCPS and 10 equity shares to six of these investors. 

The round size might further increase to include a debt element to it. 

In the current round, Insight Partners has infused almost $75 Mn, whereas B Capital has pumped in around $30 Mn.

With this investment, Insight Partners will hold 5.9%, whereas B Capital will hold 2.3% in the startup on a fully diluted basis. Vivriti Capital whose subsidiary is Credvenue will continue to remain the largest shareholder with 50.5%, with Sequoia Capital being the second largest stakeholder at 7.79%. 

The development of Insight Partners in talks to invest in CredAvenue’s Series B round was reported by Money Control. CredAvenue hasn’t responded while publishing the story. The story will be updated once we get their response.

Founded by Gaurav Kumar in 2017, CredAvenue is a debt platform that connects enterprises with lenders and investors. As per its valuation report, CredAvenue has achieved $1.5 Bn in transactions with $6 Mn in revenue in FY21. The startup is likely to achieve over $7 Bn transaction value with $22 Mn in revenue by FY22. 

The startup first made heads turn when it raised $90 Mn in its Series A round in September last year. One of the largest Series A rounds in the Indian startup ecosystem was led by Sequoia Capital, in participation with Lightrock, Lightspeed Ventures, Kunal Shah’s Cred and Stride Ventures. The funding helped CredAvenue’s valuation soar to $410 Mn. 

The development also comes on the heels of CredAvenue acquiring 75.1% stake in Mumbai-based Spocto, an AI-based debt recovery platform for INR 400 Cr. 

CredAvenue claims to have over 2.3K corporates, over 750 lenders. The startup offers 5 products/platforms for specific needs:

• CredLoan (Loan Platform) – Term Lending and working capital solutions for enterprises
• CredCoLend (Origination platform) – For banks and NBFCs for co-lending partnerships 
• Plutus (Bond Platform) – Bond Issuance and Investment for institutional and retail participants
• CredSCF (Supply Chain Platform) – Trade Financing solutions
• CredPool (Pool Platform) – End to end securitisation and portfolio buyouts

India’s overall fintech market opportunity is estimated to be $1.3 Tn by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 31% during 2021-2025. Of this, lending tech is likely to account for 47%, approximately $616 Bn.As per Inc42 plus report, around $1.38 Bn was raised by lendingtech startups last year, more than double of what was raised back in 2020. The overall sector is witnessing a boom underlining the need and the demand for online lending products in the market.