Sources have said that credit card payments firm CRED have closed a $251 million funding round, doubling its valuation to $4 billion in barely six months amid an unprecedented startup funding boom.
A spokesperson for the fintech founded by Kunal Shah confirmed the deal but refused to elaborate.
The Series E round was led by existing backers Tiger Global Management and Falcon Edge Capital, with two new investors—hedge funds Marshall Wace and Steadfast Capital—also joining in.
Other existing investors DST Global, Insight Partners, Coatue Management, Sofina, and RTP Global, invested.
CRED started in 2018 as a credit-card payment platform rewarding users with points for paying their bills but has since added products such as rent payments and personal loans, as it seeks to become a full-fledged financial services provider.
One of India’s best-known new-age entrepreneurs is run by Shah; it is also ramping up its monetization efforts. It recently launched Mint, a peer-to-peer lending product where CRED users can lend money at a 9 percent interest rate to other users.
Monetization will be the key for CRED, which helps users break down hidden charges in their credit card bills and has similar useful functions but does not make money from them.
It has raised over $500 million from investors in the last 12 months. In April, the fintech firm raised $215 million in its Series D round at a valuation of $2.2 billion.