Sequoia joins $81m Series C for India’s Cred
Sequoia Capital India has joined an $81 million Series C round for India’s Cred, a credit card rewards start-up also known as Dreamplug Technologies.
Tiger Global Management, General Catalyst, Sofina, Coatue Management, and Ribbit Capital also contributed, as did partners of Russia's DST Global. The investment is said to give the company a post-money valuation around $800 million.
It follows a $120 million round in 2019 featuring Sequoia, Tiger Global, General Catalyst, and Ribbit, as well as Hillhouse Capital, Dragoneer Investment, Gemini Investment, and Apoletto, a vehicle associated with DST founder Yuri Milner. The company has raised $230 million since its inception in 2018, according to AVCJ Research.
The transaction featured a buyback of about $1.2 million worth of employee-held stock, leaving about 10% of the company still in the hands of staff. “As a founder, nothing feels more special than creating wealth for all those who put their faith in you,” Kunal Shah, Cred’s founder, said in a social media post.
Cred’s core offering is an app that provides cash and product rewards to users when they pay their credit card bills. The idea is to help merchants engage with consumers and allow financial institutions to cross-sell. The fresh capital will be used to launch new services under this theme.
The company claims its service now features in 20% of all credit card bill payments in India after having grown its platform from three million users in March 2020 to 5.9 million currently. Corporate clients include Starbucks, according to TechCrunch.
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