[Funding alert] Fintech startup Karbon raises $12M in pre-Series A funding round

Fintech startup KarbonCard on Thursday said it has raised $12 million in a pre-Series A funding round from investors including US fintech unicorn Ramp, Rainfall Ventures, Roka Works, and Y Combinator, among others.

The corporate cards startup expects to use the funds to step up its product development, undertake hiring to double its headcount in the next six months, and bolster its operations.

Karbon had earlier raised $3.5 million from Orios Venture Partner and US-based venture capital company, 2AM VC.

"We are impressed with what Karbon has built so far and are looking forward to seeing them deliver more value for Indian SMBs and startup," said Karim Atiyeh, Co-founder and CTO at Ramp.

Founded in 2019 by Pei-fu Hsieh, Amit Jangir, Kartik Jain and Sunil Sinha, Karbon Card is focused on small businesses and startups. It enables startups to access credit of up to Rs 5 crore with no fixed deposits or personal guarantee, offers rewards such as AWS credits, expense management via WhatsApp, and seamless payments transactions through corporate cards, among others.

The startup, in August, raised an undisclosed amount in growth capital from Y Combinator, which it said it will use to step up its product development and to hire more people.

Karbon claims it has crossed Rs 500 crore annualised volume run rate on cards, and counts CRED, Unacademy, MyGate, Pharmeasy, Nazara (IPO-ed recently), BlackBuck, and Bizongo among its 1,500 customers.

"Excited to be partnering with Ramp, the global corporate card leader, to build the most customer-centric card platform for Indian startups and SMBs with a $20 billion market opportunity at present," said Karbon's Pei-fu Hsieh.

The company said it has grown its revenue 30 percent month on month, despite the pandemic that dented corporate spending. It expects 35 percent month-on-month growth in the next 8-12 months, it added.