The Revolutionary Fintech Startup CRED is a Bengaluru-based firm that helps in making credit card payments. CRED is one of the few startups that have achieved unicorn status in less time and have been in business for less than three years.
CRED was founded back in 2018 by the Indian Entrepreneur, Kunal Shah, who also co-founded fintech company ‘Freecharge’ back in 2010. The company is valued at $ 2.2 Billion after the latest series D funding of $ 215 million from Falcon Edge Capital and Coatue Management LLP.
The Corporation offers various exclusive rewards for customers who make credit card bill payments from their application. Customers can link their credit cards with the app, which can help make payments. It also allows users to identify any hidden charges on credit card payments.
“Unicorn valuation is like having a meal before climbing Everest: Kunal Shah”
In an interview with ‘The Week Magazine’
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CRED Exponential Growth over the years
The company also raised funding around $ 80 Million in December from big investors – DST Global, Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global, Ribbit Capital, and General Catalyst.
CRED focuses on creating its user database and member-only policy for its customers, which requires a decent credit rating for accessing exclusive rewards. They introduce some exciting features like CRED cash and CRED Rent Pay that enable users to manage their money easily. They had a premium high-end user base with an average credit score of 750.
The company has achieved over 5.9 million users and processes 22% of all credit card bill payments in India. They also incurred a loss of ₹ 60.8 crore in FY19 to ₹ 378 crores in FY20. The Startup has to spend ₹ 770 to gain a potential customer base.
“While valuation is a milestone that many celebrate, we view it as a responsibility and an opportunity to create member value. We’ve grown rapidly over the past 2.5 years, with 35% of premium credit cardholders. As the credit card category continues to grow rapidly in India, our opportunity is to imagine new use-cases, empower Cred members to use credit responsibly, and reward them for good financial behaviour,” Kunal Shah said.
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User-Centric Financial Strategies
Currently, Kunal Shah also announced a $ 5 Million employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) buyback. They allowed their eligible employees to sell 50% of the ESOP shares in the company.
The company has its in-app-e-commerce platform known as the ‘Store’ Platform with more than 1,800 brands on its platform. It allows users to win some exciting offers during checkout using CRED Pay.
CRED is preparing to acquire at least 50% of the credit card users in the country next year. The company is also broadening its range of offers and plans for incursion into world markets.
The vision of CRED is to reach out to every potential customer of the country and provides high-end services to its users. They want to make an ecosystem that engages users to experience its digital innovations in the fintech world.
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