FreeCharge in ₹496-cr funding deal

Mobile transactions platform FreeCharge has raised $80 million ( ₹496 crore) in its third round of institutional funding, the proceeds of which will be used for product innovations.

The ‘Series C’ funding saw new investors such as Valiant Capital Management and Tybourne Capital Management come on board. The round also saw participation from existing investors such as Sequoia Capital, RuNet and Sofina, the company said in a statement.

Customer loyalty “We have been ahead of the curve (mobile commerce revolution) and as a result, 85 per cent of our transactions originate from mobile accompanied with very high customer loyalty. By virtue of the number of application transactions we drive, we are one of the biggest m-commerce players already,” said Alok Goel, Chief Executive Officer of FreeCharge. “This round of funding will be primarily used for product innovations on mobile, team expansion and building FreeCharge as a household brand,” he added.

Avendus Capital advised FreeCharge in the fund-raising. FreeCharge is a mobile commerce platform enabling users to pay mobile, DTH and utility payments across most major operators. The company is also the online promotions partner for consumer brands such as McDonalds and Baskin Robbins.

Growth of transactions Mobile transactions on its Freecharge application have grown about 60 times in the last one year driven through 10 million application downloads. FreeCharge already has a customer base of more than 20 million. The company was founded in 2010 by serial entrepreneur Kunal Shah and Sandeep Tandon.

rajesh.kurup@thehindu.co.in