Fintech start-up Khatabook raises Rs 743 cr in series C funding round

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], August 24 (ANI): Fintech start-up Khatabook said on Tuesday it has closed a USD 100 million (about Rs 743 crore) series C funding round with a valuation now close to USD 600 million (about Rs 4,456 crore).
The round was led by US-based VC firms Tribe Capital and Moore Strategic Ventures (MSV).
Other investors in the oversubscribed series C round were Alkeon Capital with continued investment participation from internal investors B Capital Group, Sequoia Capital, Tencent, RTP Ventures, Unilever Ventures and Better Capital.
In addition, Balaji Srinivasan Sriram Krishnan participated as independent investors among others.
Moreover, the startup is buying back USD 10 million (about Rs 74 crore) worth of ESOPs to acknowledge and reward employees, ex-employees and early investors who contributed to the company's growth.
Eligible employees will be able to sell as much as 30 per cent of their vested options. Khatabook has also expanded its ESOP pool to USD 50 million (about Rs 371 crore).
Amid the growing demand for technology solutions by India's MSMEs, Khatabook experienced 150 per cent year-on-year growth in FY 20-21. Currently, the platform across all its software products has over 10 million monthly active users.
Ravish Naresh, CEO and Co-founder, said the first phase of company's journey was enabling digital transformation by building a tech ecosystem for Indian MSMEs.
"Now that we have created a widely accepted digital platform, the next step will be digitally-enabled financial services for small businesses. We are humbled by our investors' confidence in our mission to help local businesses succeed by providing them with the right digital empowerment," he said.
Khatabook says it has a user base in almost every district in India. In the next phase, its focus will be financial service disbursement through its tech platforms.
The financial services on Khatabook platform will digitally foster lending, payment and deposits related efficiencies in the ecosystem. (ANI)