Kunal Shah’s Cred Raises $120 Mn Series B Funding From Ribbit, Tiger Global And Others

Bengaluru-headquartered credit card bill payment app Cred said it has raised $120 Mn from a bunch of existing and new investors. Inc42 noted through company filings that it has floated the offer for INR 730.02 Cr ($101.4 Mn), and the rest $20 Mn, it claims to have already received.

The company’s Ministry of Corporate Affairs filings accessed by Inc42 showed that the company passed a resolution on August 16 to allot 5,34,668 Series B shares to its investors for INR 730.02 Cr. Here’s the breakdown of the investors:

• Sequoia India is investing INR 117.07 Cr for 85,750 shares
• Ribbit Capital is investing INR 144.62 Cr for 1,05,929 shares
• Gemini Investments is investing INR 144.62 Cr for 1,05,929 shares
• RTP Global Investments is investing INR 10.3 Cr for 7,566 shares
• Anxa Holding is investing INR 3.44 Cr for 2,522 shares
• Tiger Global is investing INR 103.30 Cr for 75,664 shares
• HH DTPL  Holdings II Limited is investing INR 103.30 Cr for 75,664 shares
• DF International Group is investing INR 34.4 Cr for 25,221 shares
• Greenoaks Capital Opportunities is investing INR 68.87 Cr for 50,443 shares

In a statement, Kunal Shah, founder of Cred said that “funding is not a milestone but the fuel to carry us into our next phase of growth. We wish to make credit cards more accessible, feature rich and deliver more value to our members. Our true success will lie in improvement in quality of life and financial progress of our community.”

The development comes days after Cred raised INR 27.55 Cr ($4 Mn) from Sequoia Capital India. The company said in its filings that the Bridge Series B funds will be used for growth, expansion, marketing and general corporate activities of the company.

The company’s filings showed QED innovation labs, Sequoia and Ribbit have been the major investors across company’s seed and series A round. Cred had raised $30 Mn in its seed funding round and has been reportedly in talks to raise $125 Mn in a fresh funding round at a valuation of $500 Mn.

Cred: A Members-Only App

Launched in 2018 by Kunal Shah, Cred is a members-only app which gives exclusive rewards for paying your credit card bill in a timely manner. Eligible users with good credit scores can use the app to understand and navigate their credit card statements, particularly with regard to hidden charges, and they are rewarded accordingly.

The company has partnered with brands such as Airbnb, Cure.fit, BookMyShow, Urban Ladder, FreshMenu and ixigo among others for rewards, experiences and upgrades every month. The banks associated with Cred include HDFC, ICICI, Kotak, Axis among others.

In the long run, the company plans on building its consumer base through credit card bill payments and rewards and then develop high-end loyalty and offer other services, including insurance.

Shah is a serial entrepreneur who earlier launched ventures such as PaisaBack, a cashback and promotional discount campaign platform for retailers; and FreeCharge, a coupon-based app for mobile recharge. While he shutdown PaisaBack to launch FreeCharge, Kunal Shah sold the latter to Snapdeal in a whopping $450 Mn deal in 2015. Snapdeal then later sold FreeCharge to Axis Bank.

As one of the hottest sectors of the Indian startup ecosystem, fintech has been bringing investor as well as customer attention. According to DataLabs by Inc42, between 2015 and Q1 2019, the total investment in Indian fintech startups was $7.62 Bn with a total deal count of 478.

Update: August 27, 2019 | 12:15 PM

The company confirmed $120 Mn Series B funding from existing and new investors. The story has been updated to include the same.