Meet the newest unicorn of India — CRED

Yet another Indian startup enters the unicorn club.

The latest entrant to the coveted $1 billion valuation club is Bengaluru-headquartered fintech startup CRED. Following the closure of its Series D funding round at $215 million, CRED's valuation almost tripled from $800 million to $2.2 billion. 

The round was led by a new investor — Falcon Edge Capital — along with existing investor Coatue Management.

CRED is the sixth startup to turn unicorn this year after insurtech startup Digit Insurance, SaaS startup InnovAccer, and NBFC Five Star Finance, social commerce platform Meesho, and B2B commerce company Infra.Market.

This has certainly boosted the hopes of the Indian startup ecosystem, which currently has close to 40 unicorns. According to NASSCOM, 2021 is expected to take that figure to 50. 

Last year, despite the pandemic, 11 startups attained the unicorn status, including PhonePe, Unacademy, and Zerodha.

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News & Updates

• Healthtech startup Niramai Health Analytix’s AI-based, radiation-free breast cancer screening solution, Thermalytix™, has received CE mark approval, ISO 13485, and MDSAP International Certifications. The CE mark approval will now enable Niramai’s product to be sold in any part of the European Economic Area.

• Paytm said over 600 apps have been featured on its Mini App Store with more than 15 million monthly users coming to the platform. In October last year, it unveiled its Android Mini App Store to support Indian developers after its tussle with tech giant Google.

• Northern Arc Investments, the private debt fund and subsidiary of Northern Arc Capital, has announced the successful maturity and exit of its first fund — IFMR FImpact Investment Fund — delivering 15 percent return to investors.

• One of the leading and SME-focussed digital lending platforms FlexiLoans.com has announced its partnership with PayPal, a global leader in digital payments to provide freelancers, women entrepreneurs, sole proprietors, and MSMEs with collateral-free business loans.

• Walmart-owned Flipkart has partnered with Mahindra Logistics to accelerate the use of electric vehicles in last-mile delivery and will deploy over 25,000 EVs in the fleet by 2030, according to a regulatory filing.

Before you go, stay inspired with… 

“With the credit card category in India expanding rapidly, we have a massive opportunity to shape responsible behaviour, imagine new use cases, and create a rewarding platform for members.”

— Kunal Shah, CEO, CRED

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