BharatPe, a prominent fintech company in India, has achieved a significant milestone by turning profitable five years after its inception in 2018. The company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and interim CEO, Nalin Negi, announced on November 28 that BharatPe became EBITDA positive in October 2023. This accomplishment is highlighted by an annualized revenue of Rs 1,500 crore, marking a 31% increase from the previous year, driven largely by substantial growth in its lending and payments business.
In October 2023 alone, BharatPe facilitated over Rs 640 crore worth of loans to its merchants, a 36% year-on-year increase. Since late 2019, when the company began its lending operations, it has facilitated loans totaling over Rs 12,400 crore. Alongside this, BharatPe recorded a significant rise in transactions across its payment products, including soundbox devices, with a monthly total payment volume (TPV) exceeding Rs 14,000 crore. These achievements underscore BharatPe’s strong performance in the financial technology sector.
Nalin Negi expressed that the milestone reflects the trust placed in BharatPe by its vast network of over 1.3 crore merchant partners. The company plans to continue catering to the needs of these merchants and customers, with a strategic focus on ensuring sustained profitability across its business lines. Future plans include scaling the lending, Point of Sale (POS), and soundbox businesses, alongside launching new products tailored for merchant partners and concentrating on the development of its consumer and Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) businesses.
BharatPe has made significant strides in the fintech sector since its launch. The company introduced India’s first UPI interoperable QR code and the first zero MDR payment acceptance service. It also launched BharatPe Swipe, a card acceptance terminal, post-Covid in 2020. With a registered network of over 1.3 crore merchants across more than 450 cities, BharatPe is a leader in UPI offline transactions, processing over 370 million UPI transactions. Its POS business processes payments of over Rs 29,000 crore annually on its machines.
To date, BharatPe has raised over $583 million in equity, with investors including Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India), Ribbit Capital, Insight Partners, and Tiger Global. In January 2023, the BharatPe Group received an in-principle nod from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as an online payment aggregator. BharatPe is also a promoter in TrillionLoans, an NBFC.
This transition to profitability marks a pivotal moment for BharatPe, showcasing the company’s resilience and growth in a competitive market. The company’s focus on innovation and customer-centric products and services has played a key role in its success, positioning it as a leading fintech player in India.