Cred (company)

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CRED
Company typePrivate
Industry
  • Financial technology
  • Payments
Founded2018
FounderKunal Shah
(Co-founder & CEO)
HeadquartersBangalore, Karnataka,
India
RevenueIncrease ₹1,400 crore (US$180 million) (FY23)[1]
Negative increase ₹−1,347 crore (US$−170 million) (FY23)[1]
Number of employees
800
Websitecred.club

CRED is an Indian fintech company, based in Bangalore.[2][3][4] Founded in 2018 by Kunal Shah,[5][6] it is a reward-based credit card payments app.[7] Cred also lets users make house rent payments[8] and provides short-term credit lines.[9] Cred has received criticism for being overvalued and lacking a sound monetization strategy.[10][11]

History

Cred was founded in 2018 by Kunal Shah. By 2021, the company had onboarded over 5.9 million users and processed about 20% of all credit card bill payments in India.[12]

Kunal Shah describes Cred as being a TrustTech company rather than a FinTech, and that his motivation to start Cred comes from solving trust issues in the Indian society, which he believes is key to economic prosperity[13]

Funding and financial results

Funding

Cred raised funding from DST Global,[14] Sequoia Capital (India),[15][16] and Tiger Global,[17] among other investors, through the four rounds of private funding so far.[18] Cred posted losses of ₹360.31 crore in the 2020 fiscal year (FY20),[19] caused primarily due to high expenditure on marketing and advertising.[20]

In October 2021, Cred started to seek new investors, reporting a $5.5 billion valuation, up from $2.2 billion recorded in April 2021.[21][22]

Kunal Shah is also an investor in an AI led adtech influencer marketing platform Kofluence. The company had raised a pre-series funding of $4 Million as of 8 February 2022.[23]

In June 2022, CRED raised $80 million in a Series F funding round led by Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, GIC. The Series F funding round will value the company at around $6.4 billion.[24]

Investor Transaction Name Fund Raised[25] Valuation
Sequoia Capital India Seed $30M Not Revealed
Sequoia Capital, RTP Ventures, and 25 others Series A $636K
Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital, and seven others Series B $120M Increase $450 Million
DST Global, Tiger Global Management, and seven others Series C $81M Increase $806 Million
Coatue, Insight Partners, and nine others Series D $215M Increase $2.2 Billion
Tiger Global Management, Marshall Wace, and eight others Series E $251M Increase $4.01 Billion
GIC Singapore, Tiger Global Management, and three others Series F $80M Increase $6.4 Billion

Marketing

Cred became the official sponsor for the Indian Premier League for four years from 2020 to 2023.[26] In 2021, Cred's advertising content and videos, made in-house featuring Indian celebrities,[27][28][29] generated significant discourse in news and social media[30][31][32][33] due to its peculiarity, which was both criticized[34] and praised.[35]

Acquisitions

In 2021, Cred acquired expense management startup Happay in December and a liquor delivery startup HipBar.[36]

In December 2022, Cred acquired a 100% stake in CreditVidya that offers lending as a service. This is to allow Cred to expand its customer base and ecosystem as CreditVidya, which caters to customers who do not have a credit score.[36]

In July 2023, Cred acquihired savings and investment platform Spenny and expanded in the lending and wealthtech space further.[37]

In February 2024, Cred acquired online wealth management startup Kuvera for an undisclosed amount. With this acquisition, Cred entered the into the mutual funds market.[38]

References

  1. ^ a b "Cred revenue grows 3.5x to Rs 1,400 crore, losses widen 5% to Rs 1,347 crore in FY23". Moneycontrol. 5 October 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  2. ^ "Kunal Shah's CRED raises $215 million to be India's latest unicorn with a valuation of $2.2 billion". Business Insider. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  3. ^ "Kunal Shah's Cred turns unicorn in less than three years; valuation slingshots nearly 3X to $2.2 billion". The Financial Express. 6 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  4. ^ "Cred valued at $2.2 billion with new round, Kunal Shah says 'conscious call' to not monetise in first 2 years". cnbctv18.com. 6 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  5. ^ Patwa, Prasannata (26 November 2018). "Cred to launch product for credit card users". mint. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  6. ^ Gooptu, Biswarup; Sharma, Samidha. "Kunal Shah: FreeCharge's Kunal Shah is back with Fintech firm Cred". The Economic Times. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  7. ^ Bajaj, Karan. "Cred review: Makes credit card bill payments easier, rewards for timely transaction". The Economic Times. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  8. ^ "How to pay house rent online with your credit card using CRED app". www.timesnownews.com. 11 June 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  9. ^ Staff (20 April 2020). "Cred Rentpay, Stash services launched in India". BGR India. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  10. ^ Dalal, Mihir (4 February 2021). "Forgive us for asking, but what's Cred's business model?". mint. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  11. ^ "Worth $806 mn, Cred's Rs 52-lakh revenue sparks valuation, business model debate". cnbctv18.com. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  12. ^ Dalal, Mihir (5 January 2021). "Cred raises $81 million, announces Esop buyback worth $1.2 million". The Economic Times. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  13. ^ Curtain call with Kunal Shah at Razorpay FTX 2018. Bangalore: Razorpay. 29 January 2019. Event occurs at 13m5s – via YouTube.
  14. ^ "Cred raises $80 million in a funding round led by DST Global, valuation now up at $800 million". Firstpost. 2 December 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  15. ^ "VC firm Sequoia Capital closes second seed fund at $195 million to back startups in India, Southeast Asia". The Financial Express. 25 March 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  16. ^ Srikanth, Chandra R (6 April 2021). "Cred Turns Unicorn, Raises $215 Million At A Valuation Of $2.2 Billion". Moneycontrol. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  17. ^ "Kunal Shah's Cred Raises $120 Mn Series B Funding From Ribbit, Tiger Global And Others". Inc42 Media. 26 August 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  18. ^ "India's CRED in talks to raise $200 million at $2 billion valuation". TechCrunch. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  19. ^ Vardhan, Jai; Tyagi, Gaurav (6 February 2021). "Kunal Shah's CRED spent Rs 727 to earn a rupee in FY20". Entrackr. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  20. ^ "Big Spender CRED Banks On Rent Payments, Credit Lines For Revenue". BloombergQuint. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  21. ^ Singh, Manesh (11 October 2021). "Indian fintech CRED seeks funds at $5.5 billion valuation". TechCrunch. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  22. ^ Manikandan, Ashwin. "Cred's valuation soars to $2.2 billion after fresh funding". The Economic Times. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  23. ^ "Influencer Marketing Startup Kofluence Bags $4 Mn From Kunal Shah, Karan Johar". 8 February 2022.
  24. ^ Jose, Teena. "CRED Raises $80 Million In Series F Funding". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  25. ^ "Exclusive: CRED in talks to raise funding, eyes $6.5 bn valuation". Moneycontrol. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  26. ^ "After Unacademy, Cred Joins IPL 2020 As Official Partner". Inc42 Media. 2 September 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  27. ^ www.ETBrandEquity.com. "CRED launches 90s inspired multi-film campaign featuring Anil Kapoor - ET BrandEquity". ETBrandEquity.com. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  28. ^ Bhatt, Shephali. "Who made Bappi Da sing love ballads for credit cards?". The Economic Times. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  29. ^ Misra, Shubhangi (1 November 2020). "With Bappi Lahiri to Govinda, India's ad industry is laughing at itself. Not everyone gets why". ThePrint. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  30. ^ "Is self-ridicule the new ad formula?". Deccan Herald. 7 November 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  31. ^ "Govinda's New CRED Ad: Here's Why the Dancing Superstar Said Yes". Latest Odisha News, Breaking News Today | Top Updates on Corona - OTV News. 29 October 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  32. ^ www.ETBrandEquity.com. "Jim Sarbh engages with audience in Cred's new ad film - ET BrandEquity". ETBrandEquity.com. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  33. ^ "CRED in the Indian Premier League (IPL): sixer or hit wicket?". The Ken. 14 October 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  34. ^ www.ETBrandEquity.com. "Opinion: First you pay them, then you mock them? - ET BrandEquity". ETBrandEquity.com. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  35. ^ "CRED… not everyone gets it: A copywriter's take". afaqs!. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  36. ^ a b "Cred to acquire lending-as-a-service firm CreditVidya". mint. 29 November 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  37. ^ "CRED acquihires savings platform Spenny". Moneycontrol. 23 June 2023. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  38. ^ Banthia, Jyoti (6 February 2024). "CRED to acquire Kuvera for undisclosed amount". BusinessLine. Retrieved 28 February 2024.

External links

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