CRED
TypePrivate
IndustryFinancial Services

Credit cards FinTech

Payments
Founded2018
FounderKunal Shah
HeadquartersBangalore, Karnataka, Ghatkopar, Mumbai,
Bangalore
,
India
RevenueIncrease ₹393 crore (US$49 million) (2022)[1]
Negative increase ₹−1,279 crore (US$−160 million) (2022)[1]
Number of employees
800
Websitecred.club

CRED is an Indian fintech company. It is 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] As of April 2021, Cred offered six different products; Cred RentPay, Cred Cash, Cred Pay, Cred Store, and Cred Travel Store, etc. However, on 20 August 2021, Cred also launched a Peer to Peer(P2P) lending feature known as Cred Mint that aims to monetise through its 7.5 million users.[13]

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[14]

Funding and financial results

Funding

Cred raised funding from DST Global,[15] Sequoia Capital (India),[16][17] and Tiger Global,[18] among other investors, through the four rounds of private funding so far.[19] Cred posted losses of ₹360.31 crore in the 2020 fiscal year (FY20),[20] caused primarily due to high expenditure on marketing and advertising.[21]

In October 2021, Cred started to seek new investors, reporting a $5.5 billion valuation, up from $2.2 billion recorded in April 2021.[22][23]

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.[24]

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.[25]

Investor Transaction Name Fund Raised[26] 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.[27] In 2021, Cred's advertising content and videos, made in-house featuring Indian celebrities,[28][29][30] generated significant discourse in news and social media[31][32][33][34] due to its peculiarity, which was both criticized[35] and praised.[36]

References

  1. 1 2 "CRED revenue jumps over 4X while losses widen to Rs 1,279 Cr in FY22". Entrackr. 12 October 2022.
  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. ↑ Khaliq, Ariba (25 April 2021). "Great for the Good: Here's everything you can do with CRED". Times of India. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  14. ↑ Curtain call with Kunal Shah at Razorpay FTX 2018. Bangalore: Razorpay. 29 January 2019. Event occurs at 13m5s – via YouTube.
  15. ↑ "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.
  16. ↑ "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.
  17. ↑ Srikanth, Chandra R (6 April 2021). "Cred Turns Unicorn, Raises $215 Million At A Valuation Of $2.2 Billion". Moneycontrol. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  18. ↑ "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.
  19. ↑ "India's CRED in talks to raise $200 million at $2 billion valuation". TechCrunch. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  20. ↑ 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.
  21. ↑ "Big Spender CRED Banks On Rent Payments, Credit Lines For Revenue". BloombergQuint. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  22. ↑ Singh, Manesh (11 October 2021). "Indian fintech CRED seeks funds at $5.5 billion valuation". TechCrunch. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  23. ↑ Manikandan, Ashwin. "Cred's valuation soars to $2.2 billion after fresh funding". The Economic Times. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  24. ↑ "Influencer Marketing Startup Kofluence Bags $4 Mn From Kunal Shah, Karan Johar". 8 February 2022.
  25. ↑ Jose, Teena. "CRED Raises $80 Million In Series F Funding". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  26. ↑ "Exclusive: CRED in talks to raise funding, eyes $6.5 bn valuation". Moneycontrol. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  27. ↑ "After Unacademy, Cred Joins IPL 2020 As Official Partner". Inc42 Media. 2 September 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  28. ↑ www.ETBrandEquity.com. "CRED launches 90s inspired multi-film campaign featuring Anil Kapoor - ET BrandEquity". ETBrandEquity.com. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  29. ↑ Bhatt, Shephali. "Who made Bappi Da sing love ballads for credit cards?". The Economic Times. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  30. ↑ 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.
  31. ↑ "Is self-ridicule the new ad formula?". Deccan Herald. 7 November 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  32. ↑ "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.
  33. ↑ www.ETBrandEquity.com. "Jim Sarbh engages with audience in Cred's new ad film - ET BrandEquity". ETBrandEquity.com. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  34. ↑ "CRED in the Indian Premier League (IPL): sixer or hit wicket?". The Ken. 14 October 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  35. ↑ www.ETBrandEquity.com. "Opinion: First you pay them, then you mock them? - ET BrandEquity". ETBrandEquity.com. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  36. ↑ "CRED… not everyone gets it: A copywriter's take". afaqs!. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
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