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Kunal Shah’s CRED and Newtap to lead Rs 550 Cr investment in NBFC arm

Entrackr · 18d

Non-banking financial company Newtap Finance Private Limited is planning to raise Rs 550 crore (around $64 million) from Newtap Technologies and CRED in the near to medium term. CRED founder Kunal Shah’s Newtap Technologies is the majority shareholder in Newtap Finance (formerly Parfait). According to a press release by India Ratings and Research, during FY22-24, promoters have invested Rs 149 crore in Newtap Finance, with CRED contributing a primary infusion of Rs 35.7 crore to date. Newtap Finance (NFPL) offers personal loans to individuals, with CRED serving as the loan service provider. CRED has a monthly active user base of 12 million and provides a range of services, including credit card payments, UPI transactions, vehicle management, lending, insurance, personal finance management via account aggregator rails, and rewards/deals. Newtap Finance’s loan book lacks seasoning, but CRED pre-approves loans for select users based on their financial behavior. All CRED members qualify with high credit scores, which is a key eligibility criterion for the app. Kunal Shah indirectly owns 76% of Newtap Finance through his fully owned entity, Newtap Technologies, while CRED holds a 23.6% stake. Shah and CRED gained control of Newtap in 2022, but the RBI blocked CRED's bid to raise its stake in 2023. Since then, Newtap has worked to establish itself as an independent NBFC. At the end of December 2024, the total AUM outstanding on Newtap Finance’s platform was Rs 1,141.6 crore, of which Rs 632 crore was on NFPL’s books. NFPL has also partnered with two large lenders—a bank and an NBFC—for co-lending and plans to scale up co-lending in the near term. As of December 2024, CRED had an AUM (assets under management) of Rs 19,000 crore, with an NPA (non-performing asset) of 1.1%, the press release added. During the fiscal year that ended in March 2024, CRED reported a 66% year-on-year growth in its operating revenue to Rs 2,473 crore. Moreover, the operating losses for the Tiger Global-backed company reduced by 41% in the same period.