[Funding alert] BharatPe raises Rs 50 Cr in debt from Trifecta Capital

Fintech startup for merchants, BharatPe, on Wednesday announced that it has raised Rs 50 crore (~$7 million) in debt funding from Trifecta Capital, a venture debt fund that is focused on new economy businesses.

This is the third tranche of debt fund financing raised by BharatPe. It recently secured Rs 199 crore ($28 million) in debt from venture debt providers as well as ICICI Bank. The company, which is aggressively working towards building its lending business, raised Rs 249 crore ($35 million) in debt in January 2021.

“BharatPe is committed to empowering the small merchants and kirana store owners with easy to use and secure fintech products. The fact that we have been able to raise debt from all three renowned venture debt providers — Alteria, Innoven and Trifecta Capital — in the largest single raise is a testimony of the scalability of our business model,” said Ashneer Grover, Co-founder and CEO, BharatPe.

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BharatPe claims to be one of the largest B2B fintech lenders in the country, disbursing Rs 200 crore to its merchant partners every month. The company has set a target of disbursing Rs 1,000 crore of loans in FY21 and $2 billion in loans by March 2023.

“Merchants are at the core of everything we do. We aspire to become a digital bank that can serve as a one-stop destination for all merchant needs and lending business will play a key role in this journey. I would like to thank Trifecta Capital for partnering with us in our journey of transforming Bharat,” added Suhail Sameer, Group President, BharatPe.

It has already disbursed loans to more than one lakh merchants and aims to enable credit to 10 lakh small merchants and kirana store owners in 2021.

The debt funding raised by the company will help BharatPe catapult its lending business and offer loans to millions of underserved small merchants and kirana store owners across the country.

Rahul Khanna, Managing Partner, Trifecta Capital, said, “We are of the firm belief that BharatPe, with its wide merchant network, best-in-class fintech products and an experienced team, will go a long way in addressing the credit problem for small businesses in the country.”