Loading organizations...
BharatPe is a New Delhi, India-based financial technology company that provides digital payment and lending solutions, including zero-fee interoperable UPI QR codes and hardware point-of-sale machines, to small and medium-sized merchants. The platform serves over 13 million offline retailers and kirana grocery stores across more than 400 cities, processing approximately $20 billion in annualized total payment volume. While its core payment services are offered without merchant discount rates, the company generates revenue through merchant cash advances and various consumer credit products, reporting $110 million in operating revenue for fiscal year 2023. The enterprise reached an estimated $2.85 billion valuation after raising over $700 million in total equity funding from prominent institutional investors including Peak XV Partners, Tiger Global, Coatue, and Ribbit Capital. BharatPe was founded in 2018 by Ashneer Grover, Shashvat Nakrani, and Bhavik Koladiya.
BharatPe has raised $594.0M across 7 funding rounds.
Key people at BharatPe.
BharatPe was founded in 2018 by Bhavik Koladiya (Co-Founder and Group Head of Product & Technology) and Shashvat Nakrani (Co-Founder) and Ashneer Grover (Co-Founder).
BharatPe has raised $594.0M in total across 7 funding rounds.
BharatPe is India's leading financial services platform for merchants, founded in 2018 to drive financial inclusion through innovative digital payment and lending solutions.[1][2] It serves over 6 million merchants across 450+ cities, offering products like India's first UPI interoperable QR code, zero MDR (Merchant Discount Rate) payment acceptance, POS terminals (BharatSwipe), merchant cash advances, and digital lending powered by AI-based credit models.[1][2][4] The company processes ₹12,000+ crore in monthly UPI transactions, with its POS business at ₹900 crore/month, and has achieved profitability in FY25 (INR 6 Cr profit before tax excluding ESOPs, up from INR 342 Cr loss in FY24) driven by 60% revenue from merchant lending (INR 1,000 Cr).[1][3][4] Revenue grew to INR 1,667 Cr in FY25, fueled by expansions into UPI TPAP (BharatPe app), Invest BharatPe, and RBI authorization as an Online Payment Aggregator, alongside its role as a UPI Technology Service Provider (TSP).[1][3]
BharatPe (Resilient Innovations Pvt Ltd) was co-founded in 2018 by Ashneer Grover and Shashvat Nakrani with a mission to enable financial inclusion for Indian merchants via UPI-based tools.[1][2] The idea emerged from addressing offline merchants' need for simple, cost-free digital payments; it launched India's first UPI interoperable QR code and zero MDR service that year, followed by UPI-backed merchant cash advances and BharatSwipe POS in 2020.[1][2] Early traction included serving 60 lakh merchants in 100 cities, processing 8 crore+ UPI transactions monthly, and disbursing ₹1,200 Cr in loans.[2] The company raised ~$700M total (including $270M early equity/debt from Tiger Global, Sequoia, Ribbit), but faced challenges like Grover's 2022 exit amid disputes, shifting focus under CEO Nalin Negi to merchant-first efficiency amid RBI lending regulations.[2][3]
BharatPe rides India's UPI explosion (billions of monthly transactions) and fintech shift to regulated, merchant-centric models post-RBI unsecured lending curbs.[1][3] Timing aligns with digital India's push—offline merchants (millions underserved) now adopt zero-cost tools amid rising small business formalization.[2][4] Favorable forces include NPCI protocols, AI lending tech, and infrastructure plays like TSP, positioning it as a backbone for UPI at scale while peers like Paytm falter.[1][3] It influences the ecosystem by enabling 450+ cities' retailers, boosting inclusion, and modeling profitability (FY25 turnaround) for fintechs navigating compliance.[1][3][4]
BharatPe's merchant-first playbook—lending dominance, infra expansions (UPI app, Invest), and tech migrations—signals sustained scaling post-profitability.[1][3][4] Next: Double down on lending efficiencies, TPAP/aggregator growth, and AI amid UPI 2.0+ evolutions; trends like embedded finance and small bank partnerships will amplify reach.[1][3] Influence may evolve from payments pioneer to full-stack fintech enabler, potentially eyeing IPO as valuations rebound (once $225M post-$50M raise).[5] This turnaround cements its role in merchant empowerment, echoing its 2018 QR genesis.
BharatPe was founded in 2018 by Bhavik Koladiya (Co-Founder and Group Head of Product & Technology) and Shashvat Nakrani (Co-Founder) and Ashneer Grover (Co-Founder).
BharatPe has raised $594.0M in total across 7 funding rounds.
BharatPe's investors include Tiger Global Management, Trifecta Capital, AngelList.
Key people at BharatPe.
BharatPe has raised $594.0M across 7 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $10.2M Debt in July 2024.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 31, 2024 | $10.2M Debt Financing | — | — | Announced |
| Jan 18, 2024 | $100M Debt Financing | — | — | Announced |
| Aug 1, 2021 | $350M Series E | — | Tiger Global Management | Announced |
| Jan 20, 2021 | $6.8M Debt Financing | Trifecta Capital | — | Announced |
| Feb 23, 2020 | $75M Series C | — | — | Announced |
| Aug 26, 2019 | $50M Series B | — | — | Announced |
| Sep 1, 2018 | $2M Seed | — | AngelList | Announced |
