Indian fintech firm InCred Finance is set to join the unicorn club after securing commitments worth Rs 500 crore (around $60 million) in a Series D funding round.
A global private equity fund, corporate treasuries and UHNI family offices participated in the funding round, according to a company statement that did not name the investors.
InCred plans to use the new capital to take advantage of the growth in student loans and the MSME lending market to strengthen its balance sheet and provide enough runway for the next couple of years of expansion.
The lending company is targeting a Rs 1,000 crore profit and has plans to list the business in the next couple of years.
“With our Risk-First approach, cutting-edge technology, and class-leading management team, we are well-positioned for sustained growth in the business over the years to come.” said Bhupinder Singh, founder and Group CEO of InCred.
Founded in 2016, InCred is backed by investors such as KKR, TRS, ADIA, Investcorp, OAKS, Moore Capital, Ranjan Pai and Gaurav Dalmia.
The group has two distinct businesses InCred Finance, which is a non-banking finance company (NBFC), and InCred Capital, which is an institutional, wealth management, and asset management platform.
InCred had raised Rs 500 crore in debt funding from public sector banks and public financial institutions in 2020.
In 2019, the company had raised $85.7 million in a funding round led by Dutch development finance institution FMO, with participation from US-based asset manager Moore Capital, India- and Latin America-focused PE fund Elevar, and Alpha Capital.
InCred completed its merger with KKR’s lending business, KKR India Financial Services, in July last year.
In October, InCred Capital’s alternative investment unit entered India’s booming private equity space with its maiden fund targeting companies across consumer, financials and technology/enterprise sectors.
InCred is the second company to enter India’s unicorn club this year.
Indian quick grocery delivery firm Zepto became India’s first unicorn of 2023 in August after raising $200 million in a Series E round led by StepStone Group.
There has been a scarcity of unicorns in the country this year. In 2022, twenty-three privately-held startups in India had surpassed the $1 billion valuation mark, while 45 startups entered the club in 2021.
