BillDesk raises funding, enters unicorn club

Mumbai-based IndiaIdeas.com Ltd, which operates online payment solutions firm BillDesk, has raised $84.85 million (Rs 602.6 crore at current exchange rate) in a fresh round that values it at over $1 billion, making it the latest unicorn.

According to the company’s latest filings with the ministry of corporate affairs, payments technology company Visa Inc. led the round with a $75.63 million (Rs 537.06 crore) infusion while existing investor Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd, which is a Singapore state investor, put in the rest. The company raised this round on 15 February.

Going by TechCircle estimates, the company’s valuation stood at around $1.53 billion (Rs 10,915 crore), making it the newest entrant into the elite unicorn club.

According to its previous filings with the ministry, the company had last raised Rs 620 crore in November 2015 in a round led by US-headquartered private equity firm General Atlantic, and joined by Temasek. That round valued the company at $583.67 million (Rs 4,145 crore).

The latest round of funding comes more than three months after Visa Inc. said it would pick up a minority stake in BillDesk to expand its footprint in India.

E-mail queries to BillDesk co-founders MN Srinivasu and Ajay Kaushal did not get a response till the time of publishing this report.

BillDesk

BillDesk was founded in 2000 by accounting firm Arthur Andersen’s employees Srinivasu, Kaushal and Karthik Ganapathy. BillDesk provides electronic transaction processing services to banks, e-commerce companies, telecom operators and state utilities. It competes with billing aggregators such as Citrus Payment Solutions, CCAvenue, Oxigen and RazorPay.

The company is backed by, among others, General Atlantic, TA Associates, Clearstone Venture Partners and Singapore state investment firm Temasek.

In March last year, media reports stated that BillDesk had held separate discussions with PayU, American Express and PayPal for a potential sale but the talks fell through over valuation mismatch.

For 2017-18, BillDesk reported an eight per cent rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 149 crore from Rs 138 crore the year before.

Consolidated operational revenue increased 22.6% to Rs 1,102.8 crore from Rs 899.7 crore while total expenditure grew at a similar pace to Rs 943.7 crore from Rs 772.7 crore during the period. Both revenue and net profit grew at a slower pace than the year before; net sales had jumped 71% while profit had soared 120% for 2016-17.