Khatabook raises $100 mn funding, announces ESOP buyback worth $10 mn

Khatabook on Tuesday said it has raised USD 100 million in funding round, led by Tribe Capital and Moore Strategic Ventures (MSV) that valued the fintech company at close to USD 600 million

Khatabook on Tuesday said it has raised USD 100 million (about Rs 741 crore) in funding round, led by Tribe Capital and Moore Strategic Ventures (MSV) that valued the fintech company at close to USD 600 million.

The series C round - which was oversubscribed - also saw participation from Alkeon Capital, with continued investment participation from B Capital Group, Sequoia Capital, Tencent, RTP Ventures, Unilever Ventures, and Better Capital, a statement said.

In addition, Balaji Srinivasan and Sriram Krishnan participated as independent investors, among others, it added.

Khatabook said it is buying back USD 10 million worth of ESOPs "to acknowledge and reward employees, ex-employees, and early investors who contributed to the company's growth".

 

Eligible employees will be able to sell up to 30 per cent of their vested options, it said adding that Khatabook has expanded its ESOP pool to USD 50 million.

Amidst the growing demand for technology solutions by India's MSMEs, Khatabook experienced 150 per cent year-on-year growth FY20-21. Currently, Khatabook, across all its software products, has over 10 million monthly active users.

Founded in January 2019, Khatabook is currently available in 13 languages.

Besides its flagship ledger application (Khatabook), the company is also focused on the growth of its software ecosystem for MSMEs through its other apps -- Pagarkhata for staff management, Cashbook for expense management, and recently acquired Biz Analyst for insight-driven decision making and business management for Tally ERP9 user base.

Besides building financial services, the funding will also help Khatabook strengthen its talent base.

Khatabook, which currently has over 200 employees, will accelerate hiring, especially in engineering, product, design, analytics, and data science functions, it said.

"The first phase of our journey was enabling digital transformation by building a tech ecosystem for Indian MSMEs. Now that we have created a widely accepted digital platform, the next step will be digitally-enabled financial services for small businesses," Khatabook co-founder and CEO Ravish Naresh said.