Private Equity

PE-VC Fund Investments

Digital lender KreditBee raises $280-M from MO Alternates, Hornbill Capital, others; turns unicorn

Mint  

Advent-backed, Bengaluru-based digital lender KreditBee has raised about USD 280 million in a Series E funding round, valuing the company at around USD 1.5 Billion, thus marking its entry into the unicorn club.The round was led by Motilal Oswal Alternates, Hornbill Capital, and MUFG-backed Dragon Funds, with participation from WhiteOak Capital, A.P. Moller Holding, and existing investors including Premji Invest and Advent International. KreditBee last raised a round in 2023 at USD 700 million in valuation. Of the total funding, around USD 220 million is primary capital and about USD 60 million is secondary, allowing prior investors like Alpine Capital and Mirae Asset Naver Asia Growth Fund to partially exit.Founded by Madhusudan Ekambaram (CEO), Karthikeyan Krishnaswamy (CTO), and Vivek Veda, KreditBee closed FY25 with INR 10,200 crore and is expected to end FY26 at around INR 14,700 crore. The company plans to deploy the fresh capital to expand its lending book.The company had last raised USD 200 million in a funding round led by US-based private equity firm Advent International in January 2023. The company is preparing for a public listing.

Between Mar 2016 and Mar 2024, KreditBee had attracted about USD 504 M from Cyber Carrier, Shunwei Capital, Xiaomi, Arkam Ventures, Sachin Bansal, ADM Capital, Alpine Capital, Mirae Asset Global Investments, PremjiInvest, Motilal Oswal Alternates, TPG Newquest, India SME Investments, SIDBI VC, MUFG Innovation Partners, Advent International and others.For FY25, KreditBee had reported about INR 590 Cr in Operating Income and about INR 237 Cr in PAT.