Exclusive: Rupeek To Raise INR 200 Cr From Elevation, Others At 60% Haircut

Gold loan provider Rupeek is in advanced talks to raise around INR 200 Cr (about $24 Mn) in a funding round which will be a mix of primary and secondary transactions, sources told Inc42.

The funding round will see Elevation Capital joining the digital lending startup’s cap table. Besides, a couple of existing investors will also participate in the round.

Elevation Capital will be a “major contributor” in this funding round, which will value the startup at $250 Mn, – a decline of almost 60% from its peak valuation of $600 Mn, the sources added.

As part of the secondary transaction, Rupeek’s employees will be selling their shares to investors.

Earlier, Economic Times reported that Ranjan Pai’s investment office Claypond Capital is likely to join the funding round. 

The new funding round kicked off earlier this month, with Rupeek raising INR 51 Cr from 360 One Large Value Fund (formerly IIFL Wealth Management) and BlackSoil. 

Founded in 2015 by Sumit Maniyar and Ashwin Soni, Rupeek offers custom gold loans as well as other standard lending products, with gold as collateral. It claims to be present in more than 40 cities across the country and have a customer base of more than 5 Lakh.

Backed by the likes of Peak XV Partners, Accel, GGV Capital, and Bertelsmann, the startup has raised a total funding of over $164 Mn till date. 

Rupeek saw its net loss narrow more than 22% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 281.6 Cr in the financial year 2022-23. However, operating revenue also declined 27.7% to INR 88.9 Cr in FY23 from INR 122.9 Cr in the previous year.

The startup has been focussing on profitability for the last few years. As part of this, it fired almost 250 employees in two layoff rounds amid the ongoing funding winter.