Cred (company)

Cred is an Indian fintech company,[3][4][5] based in Bangalore, founded in 2018 by Kunal Shah.[6][7] Cred app's main feature is reward-based credit card payments.[8] Later, Cred let users to make house rent payments[9] and introduced short-term credit lines.[10] Cred has received criticism for being overvalued and lacking a sound monetization strategy.[11][12]

For other uses, see Cred (disambiguation).
Cred
Founded2018
FounderKunal Shah
HeadquartersBangalore, Karnataka,
India
Revenue ₹88.6 crore (US$12 million) (2021)[1]
₹−523.85 crore (US$−69 million) [2]
Websitecred.club

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.[13] As of April 2021, Cred offered five distinct products - Cred RentPay, Cred Cash, Cred Pay, Cred Store and Cred Travel Store. However from August 20, 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.[14]

Kunal Shah describes Cred as being a TrustTech company rather than a FinTech, that his motivation to start Cred comes from solving trust issues in the Indian society, which he believes is key to economic prosperity.[15]

Funding and financial results

Funding

Cred raised funding from DST Global,[16] Sequoia Capital (India),[17][18] and Tiger Global,[19] among other investors, through four rounds of private funding so far.[20] Cred posted losses of Rs. 360.31 crore in the 2020 fiscal year (FY20),[21] caused primarily due to high expenditure on marketing and advertising.[22]

In October 2021, Cred started to seek new investors, reporting a $5.5 billion valuation, up from $2.2 billion recorded in April 2021.[23][24]

Investor Transaction Name Fund Raised[25]
Sequoia Capital India Seed $30M
Sequoia Capital, RTP Ventures and 25 others Series A $636K
Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital and 7 others Series B $120M
DST Global, Tiger Global Management and 7 others Series C $81M
Coatue, Insight Partners and 9 others Series D $215M
Tiger Global Management, Marshall Wace and 8 others Series E $251M

Financial
Year Revenue (In crores) [26] Profits/Loss (In crores)
FY 2019 0 -60.86
FY 2020 18.14 -361.11
FY 2021 95.5 -523.85

Marketing

Cred became the official sponsor for the Indian Premier League for three years from 2020 to 2022,[27][28][29] in a Rs. 120 crore deal. In 2021, Cred's advertising content and videos, made in-house featuring Indian celebrities,[30][31][32] generated significant discourse in news and social media[33][34][35][36] due to its peculiarity, which was both criticized[37] and praised.[38]

Cred is offering instant personal loan to its users in the form of Cred Cash.[39]

References
  1. "CRED revenue soars 170X in FY21, losses past Rs 523 Cr". Entrackr.
  2. "CRED revenue soars 170X in FY21, losses past Rs 523 Cr". Entrackr.
  3. "Kunal Shah's CRED raises $215 million to be India's latest unicorn with a valuation of $2.2 billion". Business Insider. Retrieved 2021-04-10.
  4. "Kunal Shah's Cred turns unicorn in less than three years; valuation slingshots nearly 3X to $2.2 billion". The Financial Express. 2021-04-06. Retrieved 2021-04-10.
  5. "Cred valued at $2.2 billion with new round, Kunal Shah says 'conscious call' to not monetise in first 2 years". cnbctv18.com. Retrieved 2021-04-10.
  6. Patwa, Prasannata (2018-11-26). "Cred to launch product for credit card users". mint. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  7. Gooptu, Biswarup; Sharma, Samidha. "Kunal Shah: FreeCharge's Kunal Shah is back with Fintech firm Cred". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  8. Bajaj, Karan. "Cred review: Makes credit card bill payments easier, rewards for timely transaction". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  9. "How to pay house rent online with your credit card using CRED app". www.timesnownews.com. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  10. Staff (2020-04-20). "Cred Rentpay, Stash services launched in India". BGR India. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  11. Dalal, Mihir (2021-02-04). "Forgive us for asking, but what's Cred's business model?". mint. Retrieved 2021-04-10.
  12. "Worth $806 mn, Cred's Rs 52-lakh revenue sparks valuation, business model debate". cnbctv18.com. Retrieved 2021-04-10.
  13. Dalal, Mihir (January 5, 2021). "Cred raises $81 million, announces Esop buyback worth $1.2 million". The Economic Times. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  14. Khaliq, Ariba (April 25, 2021). "Great for the Good: Here's everything you can do with CRED". Times of India. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  15. Curtain call with Kunal Shah at Razorpay FTX 2018. Bangalore: Razorpay. 29 Jan 2019. Event occurs at 13m5s – via YouTube.
  16. "Cred raises $80 million in a funding round led by DST Global, valuation now up at $800 million - Business News, Firstpost". Firstpost. 2020-12-02. Retrieved 2021-04-10.
  17. "VC firm Sequoia Capital closes second seed fund at $195 million to back startups in India, Southeast Asia". The Financial Express. 2021-03-25. Retrieved 2021-04-10.
  18. "Cred Turns Unicorn, Raises $215 Million At A Valuation Of $2.2 Billion". Moneycontrol. Retrieved 2021-04-10.
  19. "Kunal Shah's Cred Raises $120 Mn Series B Funding From Ribbit, Tiger Global And Others". Inc42 Media. 2019-08-26. Retrieved 2021-04-10.
  20. "India's CRED in talks to raise $200 million at $2 billion valuation". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-04-10.
  21. Vardhan, Jai; Tyagi, Gaurav (2021-02-06). "Kunal Shah's CRED spent Rs 727 to earn a rupee in FY20". Entrackr. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  22. "Big Spender CRED Banks On Rent Payments, Credit Lines For Revenue". BloombergQuint. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  23. Singh, Manesh (2021-10-11). "Indian fintech CRED seeks funds at $5.5 billion valuation". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  24. Manikandan, Ashwin. "Cred's valuation soars to $2.2 billion after fresh funding". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  25. "Exclusive: CRED in talks to raise funding, eyes $6.5 bn valuation". Moneycontrol. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  26. "Cred reports Rs 95.5 crore revenue in FY 21, will apply for account aggregator licence". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  27. "BCCI announces CRED as Official Partner for IPL". www.iplt20.com. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  28. Tewari, Saumya (2020-09-02). "BCCI signs on Cred as official partner for IPL in three-year deal". mint. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  29. "After Unacademy, Cred Joins IPL 2020 As Official Partner". Inc42 Media. 2020-09-02. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  30. www.ETBrandEquity.com. "CRED launches 90s inspired multi-film campaign featuring Anil Kapoor - ET BrandEquity". ETBrandEquity.com. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  31. Bhatt, Shephali. "Who made Bappi Da sing love ballads for credit cards?". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  32. Misra, Shubhangi (2020-11-01). "With Bappi Lahiri to Govinda, India's ad industry is laughing at itself. Not everyone gets why". ThePrint. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  33. "Is self-ridicule the new ad formula?". Deccan Herald. 2020-11-07. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  34. "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. 2020-10-29. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  35. www.ETBrandEquity.com. "Jim Sarbh engages with audience in Cred's new ad film - ET BrandEquity". ETBrandEquity.com. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  36. "CRED in the Indian Premier League (IPL): sixer or hit wicket?". The Ken. 2020-10-14. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  37. www.ETBrandEquity.com. "Opinion: First you pay them, then you mock them? - ET BrandEquity". ETBrandEquity.com. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  38. "CRED… not everyone gets it: A copywriter's take". afaqs!. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  39. Sharma, Pankaj (2021-11-13). "CRED App Is Giving Instant Loan". Loan Bhaiya. Retrieved 2021-11-13.
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