PremiumGIC will lead a $200 mn funding round that will value Dreamplug Technologies, the company that runs the Cred credit card platform, at more than $6.5 billion. The valuation could rise to nearly $7 billion, depending on investor interest, the second person said, also requesting anonymity.
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI : Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC will lead a fresh funding round in Kunal Shah-founded fintech Cred, two people with knowledge of the transaction said.
GIC will lead a $200 million funding round that will value Dreamplug Technologies Pvt. Ltd, the company that runs the Cred credit card platform, at more than $6.5 billion, one of the people cited above said, requesting anonymity. The valuation could rise to nearly $7 billion, depending on investor interest, the second person said, also requesting anonymity.
The names of the other investors could not be immediately ascertained.
Spokespeople for GIC and Cred did not respond to requests for comments on the funding or the valuation.
GIC has been an aggressive investor in Indian startups and owns stakes in other local fintech businesses, including Razorpay and Paytm.
The fund’s investment in Cred will come within six months of the fintech startup’s last fundraising in October, when it raised $251 million at a valuation of $4 billion, adding the likes of Tiger Global and Falcon Edge to its cap table.
Soon after, Cred expanded its employee stock option pool to $500 million in January.
Founded by serial entrepreneur Shah in 2018, Cred started as an app that lets users pay credit card bills and rewards them in the form of “Cred" coins, which can be redeemed across many partner businesses. Since then, the firm has diversified into lending and e-commerce.
Its total user base grew to 7.5 million in 2021, the company said, adding that it facilitates over 25% of credit card bill payments. The company reported a 45% increase in its net loss for FY21 after marketing expenses soared during the year, according to an official document shared by the Cred last month. Cred’s loss widened to ₹524 crore for FY21 from ₹360 crore in the previous year.
In FY21, the company spent ₹222 crore on marketing against ₹57 crore in the previous year. However, the company’s revenue from operations grew to ₹88 crore from ₹52 lakh a year earlier, taking its total income to ₹95.53 crore for FY21 from ₹18.16 crore in the year earlier.
