BharatPe raises funding from InnoVen Capital

Resilient Innovations Pvt Ltd, which operates the payments and financial services-focussed startup BharatPe, has raised Rs 60 crore (about $8.2 million) from venture debt firm InnoVen Capital.

In a statement, InnoVen said the investment in BharatPe underlines its commitment to back companies irrespective of the sector they are operating in.

“As we build the lending business at BharatPe, raising institutional debt is important to us. We plan to raise $500-700 million of debt capital over the next 2 years,” BharatPe group president Suhail Sameer said.

This development comes after a report in Mint on Monday said that BharatPe is planning to raise $150-200 million in equity funding and around $500 million in debt. Company co-founder and chief executive officer Ashneer Grover said the debt component will be raised over a period of two years.

This capital infusion also comes after the company in February last year raised $75 million (around Rs 538.89 crore) in a Series C funding round that was led by Coatue Management and Ribbit Capital.

At the time of its Series C fundraise, New Delhi-based BharatPe said it would use the capital to fund its non-banking financial company (NBFC) arm, to offer credit lines to its small merchant base.

BharatPe was founded in 2018 by Ashneer Grover and Shashvat Nakrani. The company service allows its customers to track payments in real-time besides conducting other financial services.

It has also raised capital at a breakneck pace since it began operations. It raised $50 million (around Rs 358.5 crore) in its Series B round in August 2019. The round was led by Ribbit Capital and Steadview Capital. Investors such as Sequoia Capital, Beenext and Insight Partners also participated in the funding round.

The Series B infusion came just five months after its Series A round, where it raised $15.5 million (around Rs 107 crore). It had previously raised $2 million in seed funding from Sequoia Capital India and Singapore-based Beenext in October 2018.

Set up in 2008, InnoVen offers venture debt, acquisition finance, growth-stage loans and syndication. Other portfolio companies for the firm include WayCool Foods, consumer electronics firm boAt, and logistics-technology startup LetsTransport.