BharatPe raises Rs 200 crore in debt from IIFL, Northern Arc

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Tiger Global-backed BharatPe, a startup that provides merchant payments solutions and other financial services, has raised Rs 200 crore in debt funding from IIFL Wealth and Asset Management and existing investor Northern Arc Capital.

With this seventh round, the company has raised more than Rs 500 crore ($70 million) in debt in 2021, the fintech startup said.  A newly minted unicorn, the startup said it plans to raise $250 million in debt by the end of the financial year 2022.

“We have witnessed a surge in demand for merchant loans, with multi-fold growth over the last one year. With the festive season coming up soon, we are committed to scale our lending vertical aggressively and have set a target of 10x growth in lending by FY23,” said Chief Executive Officer Suhail Sameer said. “We have set a target to raise $700 million in debt over the next two years to facilitate this credit growth.”

BharatPe last announced a debt raise in May when it raised funds from Northern Arc Capital.

Earlier this year, the Delhi-based company raised over Rs 300 crore from top venture debt funds—Alteria Capital, InnoVen Capital and Trifecta Capital— banks —ICICI Bank and Axis Bank—and NBFC Northern Arc Capital.

BharatPe’s lending vertical has grown exponentially over the last 18 months and has already disbursed more than $300 million in unsecured loans to over 2 lakh merchant partners. It has a loan book of more than $ 100 million.

The company would continue to explore partnerships with domestic and international investors, ranging from banks, NBFCs, credit funds, large pension funds and impact investors, Sameer said.

BharatPe joined the ever-expanding Indian unicorn club earlier this month with Series E fund raise of $370 million at a valuation of $ 2.85 billion.