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Kunal Shah’s CRED has allotted a total of 6,048 equity shares to 125 employees after ESOP conversion

The development comes when CRED is in talks to raise a new round which is likely to increase it valuation to $6 Bn

CRED had exercised INR 100 Cr worth ESOP buyback in last year

Kunal Shah-led fintech giant CRED is allotting a total of 6,048 equity shares to around 125 employees upon ESOP conversion. 

The Bengaluru-based fintech giant which rewards CRED points on paying credit bills using its app is allotting these shares at INR 10 each to the employees. 

Based on the issuance price of Series E CCPS when CRED last raised $251 Mn, the shares allotted to its 125 current and former employees would be worth around $7.5 Mn (INR 57.5 Cr). 

CRED has however refrained from revealing details about these 125 employees. 

The Kunal Shah-led CRED which has expanded its ESOP pool to $500 Mn recently is also in talks to raise another funding round which is likely to further soar its valuation from $4 Bn to around $6 Bn. 

Founded in 2018 by serial entrepreneur Kunal Shah, CRED offers premium credit card users rewards and benefits for paying credit bills. The startup also entered into P2P lending late last year. 

The startup also houses CRED Store, where users can utilise CRED coins to purchase products from various D2C brands showcased on its platform. 

CRED was among the six Indian startups which entered the unicorn club in a record four days in April of 2021. The startup entered the unicorn club after bagging $215 Mn in its Series D round led by Falcon Edge Capital, Coatue Management, among others. The round helped the startup’s valuation touch $2.2 Bn.

Later in October last year, CRED raised $251 Mn in its Series E round at $4 Bn valuation. The round was co-led by Tiger Global and Falcon Edge. Two new investors, Marshall Wace and Steadfast had also joined the captable of the Bengaluru-based startup.  Existing investors DST Global, Insight Partners, Coatue, Sofina, RTP, and Dragoneer have increased their investments in CRED with this round.

Soon after the $251 Mn fund raise, the startup also announced that it had exercised INR 100 Cr ESOP buyback. 

It must be noted that Shah, who enjoys over 5 Lakh followers on Twitter have been open about creating wealth for its employees.

For 🦄:

Easy : raising money

Hard: hiring and retaining talent.

Unicorns that won’t share wealth generously will be left with lower quality talent.

— Kunal Shah (@kunalb11) October 29, 2021

Further, in FY21, CRED’s losses reached to INR 524 Cr while witnessing a surge in its revenue from operations to INR 88 Cr in the same financial year. The startup’s total expenses stood at INR 619.4 Cr, with employee benefit expenses at INR 134.7 Cr in FY21