Perfios, an Indian fintech that provides real-time credit underwriting solutions to banks and non-banking financial institutions, has raised $229 million in a new funding round as it looks to deepen its expansion in North America and Europe.
The 15-year-old startup’s Series D funding was led by Indian private equity firm Kedaara Capital. The new funding included some secondary sales, but the startup didn’t specify the amount. The Bengaluru-headquartered firm, which also counts Warburg Pincus and Bessemer Venture Partners among its backers, has raised $384 million in primary and secondary transactions to date, according to data intelligence platform Tracxn.
The new round values Perfios at over $900 million; more than three-fourths of the new raise was in secondary sales, a source familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. “Our valuation has taken a 120% jump from last time,” a Perfios spokesperson said in a statement. (Perfios was valued at $413 million post-money in a ~$82 million round in February last year, per Tracxn.)
The further participation from private equity firms suggests that Perfios, which operates in 18 geographies, is at least beginning to prepare for its initial public offering. (PEs tend to get involved with startups, at least those in the Asia region, two to three years before their IPO.) Update: Perfios said it is targeting to go public in 18 to 24 months.
Perfios operates a number of services that allow businesses to automate loan decisions, offer insights into a customer’s financial worthiness and aggregate data for APIs. It offers both model and loan insights, uses AI and ML techniques, and is tailored for various financial products.
The platform adapts and learns on its own, and can forecast trends in new markets or areas. With its digital scoring, Perfios AI gives overall scores, detailed breakdowns and features to evaluate credit risk efficiently, Bernstein analysts said in a recent report.
Perfios’ credit decisioning tools. Image Credits: AllianceBernstein
“Since our inception in 2008, Perfios has consistently led the way as a category-creating leader in the SaaS space. I am filled with immense gratitude and excitement to have led this journey with our 1000+ trusted partners,” said Sabyasachi Goswami, chief executive of Perfios, in a statement.
“This investment will help us in strengthening the digital transformation journey of our partners, thereby powering financial inclusion and providing access to financial services to billions across the globe.”
Perfios claimed that it’s the market leader in India and has a strong footprint in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. “Perfios has created truly the best-in-class fintech SaaS business that plays on the strong secular growth and increasing digitization levels in the financial services sector in India and globally,” said Nishant Sharma, founder and managing partner a Kedaara Capital, in a statement.
Perfios’ large funding comes at a time when most startups globally are struggling to raise new capital as investors become wary of the public markets condition.