CRED, PhonePe backer Ribbit Capital to raise $500M for new fund
Headquartered in San Francisco, Ribbit Capital has been a key backer of several Indian fintech unicorns, including BharatPe, CRED, Razorpay, and PhonePe.
Ribbit Capital, a fintech-focused venture firm, is gearing up to raise $500 million for its latest flagship fund, as per recent filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Headquartered in San Francisco, Ribbit Capital has been a key backer of several Indian fintech unicorns, including BharatPe, CRED, Razorpay, and PhonePe. The firm made its first investment in India in 2014 with PolicyBazaar, a leading insurance aggregator, and has since funded digital startups such as MoneyView and the now-defunct ZestMoney.
Two of its portfolio companies—PhonePe and Groww—are close to going public. Billionbrains Garage Ventures, the parent company of retail stockbroker and trading platform Groww, has enlisted five investment banks for its upcoming $1 billion-plus IPO, according to a report by Moneycontrol.
Meanwhile, Walmart has appointed four investment banks—Kotak, Citi, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan—to take PhonePe public. The fintech giant is expected to file its draft papers by June and try to list in the current calendar year. PhonePe, which was last valued at $12 billion, is eyeing a $15 billion stock market debut.
In 2023, Ribbit Capital secured $800 million, reportedly for its tenth flagship fund, Ribbit Capital X.
Another San Francisco-based venture firm, Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP), has closed its second India-focused fund, raising $350 million to invest in AI and fintech startups.
India’s fintech sector has seen a funding downturn for the third straight year, raising $1.9 billion in 2024, according to data from market intelligence platform Tracxn. This marks a 32% drop from the $2.8 billion raised in 2023. The number of funding rounds also declined significantly, hitting an eight-year low of 228 in 2024, compared to 324 in the previous year. The sector reached its peak in 2021, attracting $8.3 billion across 665 deals.
On a global scale, fintech investments have fallen to a seven-year low, totaling $95.6 billion in 2024, according to a report from KPMG.
Edited by Affirunisa Kankudti