The year 2023 has proven challenging for the start-up ecosystem, with only Zepto initially achieving unicorn status. However, in the closing days of the year, fintech start-up InCred emerged as the second company to join the unicorn club.
InCred secured funding of Rs 500 crore, recently receiving about $60 million from new and existing investors. According to reports by Entrackr, the company's board approved a special resolution, allowing the issuance of 3,70,37,037 equity shares at a face value of Rs 10 each and a premium of Rs 125 per share, totaling Rs 500 crore, as per regulatory filings with the Registrar of Companies.
The equity funding was spearheaded by MEMG's Ranjan Pai with a $9 million investment, accompanied by contributions from Ravi Pillai, Chairman of RP Group of Companies, with a $5.4 million investment, and Ram Nayak, global co-head of the Investment Bank and head of fixed income and currencies at Deutsche Bank, investing $1.2 million, among others.
InCred, founded by Bhupinder Singh, enjoys support from prominent investors such as KKR, TRS, ADIA, INVESTCORP, OAKS, Moore Capital, Ranjan Pai, and Gaurav Dalmia, among others.
The company made key appointments in September, welcoming Suchitra Subramanian as the Head of Trading and Risk Management and Philipp Orgler as the Head of Product Development in its structured products business.
In the previous year, Incred collaborated with Zomato to provide credit facilities to customers. Besides SME loans, InCred offers working capital loans, term loans, and channel finance, and is recognised for personal loans, medical loans, travel loans, and education loans.
Despite InCred's success, the start-up ecosystem is facing a persistent funding winter worldwide. Investments in India's tech startup ecosystem have hit a five-year low, with total funding reaching $7 billion by December 5 this year. This represents a 72 percent decline from the $25 billion received in 2022, with a 73 percent decrease in late-stage funding, a 70 percent decline in early-stage funding, and a 60 percent drop in seed-stage funding.
