Credit card payments firm CRED has closed a $251 million funding in a Series E investment round at a $4.01 billion valuation, nearly double its previous valuation at $2.2 billion.
Kunal Shah-led credit card bill payment platform’s valuation soars to $4 billion in barely six months amid an unprecedented startup funding boom.
The fintech firm’s valuation had almost doubled in the last six months when it raised $215 million in Series D round in April at a valuation of $2.2 billion.
According to sources, the fresh funds raised were co-led by existing investors Tiger Global and Falconedge. Two new investors – Marshall Wace and Steadfast joined the latest round. With this round, investors, including DST Global, Insight Partners, Coatue, Sofina, RTP, and Dragoneer, have increased their shareholding in CRED.
Founded in 2018, CRED is a credit-card payment platform rewarding users with points for paying their bills but has since added products such as rent payments and personal loans, as it seeks to become a full-fledged financial services provider.
The startup has raised an aggregate amount of $547 million from many investors this year, diversifying its financial services portfolio simultaneously to target the underserved market in India as the fintech sector in the country has seen heavy capital deployment this year raising $4.6 billion till September.
Run by Kunal Shah, one of India’s famous new-age entrepreneurs, it is also ramping up its monetization efforts. It recently launched Mint, a peer-to-peer lending product where CRED users can lend money at a 9 percent interest rate to other users.
Monetization will be the key for CRED, which helps users break down hidden charges in their credit card bills and has similar useful functions but does not make money from them.
