[Unicorn] BharatPe valuation hits $2.85 Bn with $370 million Series E fund led by Tiger Global

Merchant payments and financial services provider BharatPe has raised $370 million in a primary and secondary mix. Of the $370 million, the secondary component is $20 million, allowing its employees to cash out. Tiger Global led the Series E funding round, as a first-time investor in the startup. New investors Dragoneer Investment Group, and Steadfast Capital also participated in this round. Existing investors Sequoia Capital, Insight Partners, Coatue Management, Amplo, and Ribbit Capital have also invested a combined $200 million in the company as a part of its current Series E fundraise.

In another CiOL report, we listed down the startups that would soon get the Unicorn status. It stated that BharatPe valued at over $900 million, and another round of funding, however small, would turn it into a Unicorn.

Management rejig

The company also announced top management rejig. Ashneer Grover, Co-Founder, and CEO will become the Co-Founder and Managing Director. He will lead strategy, product, technology, capital (IPO, equity, and debt) and drive the overall people agenda, the company said. On the other hand, Suhail Sameer becomes the new CEO and joins the Board. He will overlook the overall company business - P&L, Merchant Network Expansion, monetization, lending, banking foray, and the brand.

In June 2021, when BharatPe acquired PAYBACK India for an undisclosed amount, Suhail Sameer and Gautam Kaushik, Group Presidents, BharatPe along with Sumeet Singh, General Counsel, BharatPe, also joined the board of independent PAYBACK India. Suhail is also the first Group President at BharatPe and all the CXOs report to him. The new CEO position, and entry to the BharatPe board, was seen coming after the company's successful growth despite stiff competition from Paytm, PhonePe, and GooglePay.

Use of funds

BharatPe's co-founder Ashneer Grover had said then that his first agenda was to get the bank up and running. He also added that he was hopeful this would happen by Q4 2021. As part of this, the company would pump in $250-$300 million over the next two years. “We now have $500 million cash on books and are extremely well-capitalized to deliver on our mandate to build India’s first truly digital bank. BharatPe will remain focused on lending as the core business and small merchants as our primary target segment,” Grover said.

The company will use the freshly-raised funds to grow its core business and capitalize Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank.