SUMMARY
The startup will use the incoming funding for user acquisition, marketing, business expansion, product development and hiring new talent
Founded in 2013 by Rohan and Swati Bhargava, CashKaro offers coupons, price comparisons and deals to consumers
CashKaro's commission-based business model sees the app earn revenue from partner brands for every transaction
Coupons and cashback app CashKaro has secured INR 130 Cr ($15.69 Mn) in its Series C round of funding led by Affle Global (AGPL). The funding round comes over two years after the startup raised $10 Mn in September 2022.
Including the current round, CashKaro has raised over INR 255 Cr so far from investors including Kalaari Capital, Korea Investment Partners, Ratan Tata and more.
Founded in 2013 by Rohan and Swati Bhargava, CashKaro offers coupons, price comparisons and deals to consumers. CashKaro, via its sister companies CashKaro, EarnKaro, CashKaro Stores (for assisted ecommerce) and BankKaro, claims to have 20 Mn users.
The app allows users to earn cashback and rewards for shopping online at more than 1,500 ecommerce platforms. Some of the supported ecommerce stores include Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Nykaa and Tata 1mg. CashKaro also claims to have support for D2C brands such as Mamaearth and boAt.
CashKaro’s commission-based business model sees the app earn revenue from partner brands for every transaction. The app claims to pass on a significant chunk of this to its users in the form of cashback and gift vouchers.
CashKaro claims to have driven transactions worth INR 4,000 Cr in gross merchandise value (GMV) to its partner brands in FY22.
Speaking about the funding round, Rohan Bhargava, cofounder of CashKaro and EarnKaro, said, “We are excited to welcome AGPL as our shareholder. This investment would strategically strengthen our unique B2C engagement model as we scale CashKaro from our current 20 Mn user base to 100 Mn+ over the next few years.”
Explaining the timing of the fundraise, Swati Bhargava, the cofounder, said that the business has seen growth over the last two years. CashKaro saw its revenue grow from INR 100 Cr in FY21 to INR 225 Cr in FY22.
“We felt it was the right time to raise money and scale up our user acquisition, marketing, expansion into new business verticals, product development and hiring new talent,” added Bhargava.
Cashbacks and rewards have been a common customer acquisition strategy for all kinds of companies. This trend has seen the rise of apps that partner with brands to incentivise customers to shop more by offering them rewards on every purchase.
Earlier this year, Bitcoin rewards app GoSats bagged seed funding to expand its operations. GoSats partners with brands to allow users to earn Bitcoin as a reward wherever they shop.
According to a report by Outlook India, India’s coupon market was estimated to be worth around $40 Bn in 2021. By 2027, the market is expected to rise to $127 Bn in value, growing at a CAGR of 20.6% between 2021 and 2027.
