Financial services start-up BharatPe storms into unicorn club with valuation at $2.85 bn

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<strong>Online financial services start-up BharatPe said on Wednesday it had raised $370 million in a funding round led by investment giant Tiger Global, which has valued the company at $2.85 billion.</strong></p>
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The fund raising, which catapults three-year old BharatPe into the unicorn club (star-ups valued above $1 billion).</p>
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"We now have $0.5 billion cash on books and are extremely well capitalized to deliver on our mandate to build India's first truly digital bank," said Ashneer Grover, co-founder and managing director of BharatPe.</p>
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Existing investors Sequoia Growth, Insight Partners, Coatue Management, Amplo and Ribbit Capital have also invested in the Series E fundraise, BharatPe said in a statement.</p>
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The funds have come in at a time when BharatPe is taking over crisis-ridden lender Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank with Centrum Financial Services in a distress sale.</p>
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Indian tech startups have recorded a surge in funding this year as big investors are backing companies that are expected to do well in the future.</p>