[Funding alert] Kunal Shah's Cred raises $4 million from Sequoia Capital
Cred issued 20,179 Series B CCCPS shares priced Rs 13,653.31 each. The fintech startup will use the freshly raised capital to accelerate its growth, expansion, marketing, and general corporate activities.
![[Funding alert] Kunal Shah's Cred raises $4 million from Sequoia Capital](https://images.yourstory.com/cs/wordpress/2018/11/kunal-shah-newspiece.png?mode=crop&crop=faces&ar=2:1?width=3840&q=75)
Bengaluru-based credit card bill payment startup Cred raised $4 million from Sequoia Capital, according to Registrar of Filings (ROC) accessed by YourStory.
The company raised Rs 27.55 Crore ($4 million) from Sequoia Capital India. This was after finalising a $120 million fresh round from existing and new investors.
According to the filings, Cred issued 20,179 Series B CCCPS shares priced Rs 13,653.31 each. The startup will use the freshly raised capital to accelerate its growth, expansion, marketing, and general corporate activities, said media reports.
Cred founder Kunal Shah
The company had been reportedly finalising its Series B round of funding from Chinese investment conglomerate Hillhouse Capital and existing investors including Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital and Yuri Milner’s Apoletto Asia.
Founded by Freecharge Founder Kunal Shah, Cred is a members-only app, which gives exclusive rewards for paying your credit card bill in a timely manner.
It lets credit card holders pay bills through an app, and get a bouquet of benefits via Cred coins and gems. These virtual coins and gems can be redeemed across coffee shops, movie theatres, ecommerce sites, among others.
The startup has partnered with brands such as BookMyShow, Urban Ladder, Airbnb, CureFit, FreshMenu and ixigo among others for rewards, experiences and upgrades every month. The banks associated with Cred include HDFC, ICICI, Kotak, Axis among others.
According to media reports, with this investment, the valuation of the company is expected to rise to $400 million from $75 million. A year ago, Cred raised its maiden institutional round worth $30 million led by Sequoia.
The company's other investors include former PayU India CEO Amrish Rau, Truecaller Co-founder Alan Mamedi, and Swiggy Co-founder and CEO Sriharsha Majety.
Sequoia had also backed Kunal’s previous venture Freecharge, which was sold to Snapdeal in 2015 for $450 million in one of the biggest consumer internet M&As of the time.
(Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta)
