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Exclusive: Valuation is a point-in-time view; focus on revenue, profits and growth - Cred's Kunal Shah

Cred recently raised $75 million in a fresh funding round that values the company at $3.5 billion-a 45 percent drop from its 2022 peak of $6.4 billion. Despite this, the founder of the fintech firm remains unfazed

By Naini Thaker Forbes India Staff

Published: Jun 11, 2025 01:46:50 PM IST

Updated: Jun 11, 2025 02:21:06 PM IST

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Kunal Shah, founder, CRED; Image: Madhu Kapparath

Fintech platform Cred recently raised $75 million in a fresh funding round led by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, alongside existing investors such as Sofina Ventures, QED Innovation Labs and RTP Global. The round values the company at $3.5 billion—a 45 percent drop from its 2022 peak of $6.4 billion.

Despite this valuation drop, founder Kunal Shah remains unfazed. “Valuation is a point-in-time view,” Shah tells Forbes India in an exclusive interview. “What matters is revenue, profitability and growth. I worry about those things.”

The company has shown strong financial momentum, with FY24 revenue rising 66 percent year-on-year to Rs2,473 crore, driven by deeper engagement with its affluent user base and a 58 percent increase in monetised members. Operating losses also narrowed to Rs609 crore from Rs1,024 crore in FY23. The company also reduced customer acquisition costs by 40 percent, thanks to strong organic growth and referrals.

So then why the drop in valuation?

“We’re not publicly listed. So, it’s a choice one has to make for themselves. For me, these are great choices to make—because which company is able to raise capital right now? Very few.” He adds that bringing in long-term investors like sovereign funds is a strategic move: “You want to get some of the sovereigns to own more of your company—it helps from a long-term perspective. You are trying to reset some of these things that you want to do and want to make some aggressive choices.” So, for the 46-year-old, valuation takes a backseat.

Shah emphasised that the company has never raised capital through external pitches. “All the rounds have been raised by internal investors. We’ve never gone out. Actually, to date, I haven’t made a pitch deck for the company,” he says.

The current fund infusion is in the form of primary capital, which means that existing investors have not sold any shares in this round. Shah, who still holds close to 25 percent equity in the company, says the focus remains on long-term value creation. “Valuation is a function of what people are willing to give at that point of time. I’m not a young founder anymore. I am optimising for what will create extraordinary long-term value,” he says.

Over the last five to six rounds, Cred has seen less than 5 percent dilution. “Most people get obsessed with valuation—while many companies might have higher valuation, but how much of their companies do they really own?” He feels that valuation matters only when you're focussed on projecting vanity to the world. He adds, “In India, we worship people with a certain kind of valuation. There’s too much content creation out of that topic.”

Cred, known for its credit card bill payment platform, has expanded into personal loans, secured lending and vehicle insurance through its Cred Garage platform, which now manages over 11 million vehicles. The platform also saw a 254 percent increase in transaction volumes via Cred Pay and a 55 percent rise in total payment value (TPV), which reached Rs6.87 lakh crore.