Facilitated Rs 3,600 cr loans in Q1FY23, up 112% QoQ, says BharatPe

Helped disbursals to over 120,000 merchants in Q1FY23, up from 66,000 merchants in Q4FY22

Fintech firm BharatPe said it has closed one of the highest growth quarters for the company, having doubled up on 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 per cent over the last quarter. BharatPe said it also hit $18.5 billion in annualised TPV (total payment volume)--a growth of 50 per cent 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, BharatPe.

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 per cent growth over the last quarter.

“Our mission is to bring financial inclusion to the last mile--across tier 3, 4 and 5 cities and towns,” said Suhail. “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 payments TPV to $30 billion by March 2023."

BharatPe said it has sachetised credit in the form of small-ticket and short-term loans up to Rs 10 lakh, in partnership with the lending partners.

These developments come at a time when the Sequoia and Tiger Global-backed firm had to revamp its corporate governance systems.

BharatPe 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 allegations 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.