Fintech start-up CRED, a members-only app that rewards users with exclusive rewards for paying credit card bills, has entered the unicorn club with a Series D fund-raise of $215 million at a valuation of $2.2 billion.
The round was led by new investor Falcon Edge Capital and existing investor Coatue, with other existing and new investors also participating.
The start-up was last valued at $800 million when it raised Series C of $80 million last December in a round led by existing investor DST Global along with other existing investors – Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital and General Catalyst.
With the latest funding round, CRED has offered its employees an ESOP buyback opportunity worth $5 million. It had announced a similar ESOP buyback worth $1.2 million after its Series C fund-raise.
Founded in 2018 by Kunal Shah, CRED raised $120 million in Series B funding in 2019 at a valuation of $450 million. Shah is the founder of mobile wallet service Freecharge, which he started in 2010 and which subsequently got acquired by Snapdeal in 2015 for $450 million.
6 m users
CRED which serves only the most credit worthy customers in India, has approximately 6 million users. It offers customers many features that help them track their expenses across multiple credit cards, and get reminders to help them pay their bills on time.
It rewards customers with CRED coins every time they pay their credit card bills on CRED.
The coins can be used to win exclusive rewards, or get special access to curated products and experiences. In short, CRED helps customers gain complete control over their credit card, receive category-based analysis of their spend, detect hidden charges and track their credit limit in real time.