Fintech firm BharatPe said it has closed one of the highest growth quarters for the company, having doubled up in the last quarter (Q4 of FY22) by facilitating over Rs 3,600 crore in loans in the first quarter of FY23.
In the process, it posted a growth of 112 percent over the last quarter. Bharat said it also hit $18.5 billion in annualized TPV (total payment volume)–a growth of 50 percent over Q4FY22.
“The pandemic has provided the much-needed tailwinds for the growth of digital payments and lending in the country,” said Suhail Sameer, CEO, of Bharat.
The company facilitated disbursals to over 120,000 merchants in Q1FY23, up from 66,000 merchants in the last quarter of FY22. The top merchant categories for loans included grocery, food & beverages, roadside kiosks, street vendors, and retail outlets.
BharatPe’s other product offerings, such as card acceptance PoS businesses (BharatSwipe) and its Investment Platform for merchants, posted 30 percent growth over the last quarter.
Grocery, food and beverages, roadside kiosks, street vendors, and retail outlets were the top merchant categories for loans. According to the company, its card acceptance point-of-sale businesses BharatSwipe and investment platform for merchants saw more than 30 percent QoQ growth in Q1.
Company Statement
“We are on track to achieve our target of $2 billion in loans facilitated (through our NBFC/bank partners) across both consumer and merchant business by the end of FY23 as well as scaling TPV to $30 billion by March 2023,” said Sameer.
“Post a successful FY22 that we closed with a 3x growth in merchant loans, 2.5x growth in payments, and a 4x jump in revenue, BharatPe has recorded its’ best-ever quarter in Q1, FY23…We will continue to focus on scaling our key segments – payments and credit businesses,” said Suhail Sameer, CEO, Bharat.
The company saw its biggest-ever controversy starting earlier this year when its Co-founder and CEO Ashneer and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover siphoned off funds worth crores and were later sacked by the company.
These developments come at a time when the Sequoia and Tiger Global-backed firm had to revamp its corporate governance systems.
Bharat has been in controversy since the beginning of the year after allegations surfaced against founder Ashneer Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover. They were ousted from the company for claims of misappropriation of funds.
The company entered the unicorn club in August 2021 after raising $370 million led by Tiger Global, at a post-money valuation of $2.85 billion. Former SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar was appointed chairman in October 2021.
