Khatabook raises Rs 454 crore in Series B funding round

Bengaluru-headquartered Khatabook, an app which helps micro, small and medium-sized businesses track business transactions online, has closed a $60 million (approximately Rs 454 crore) Series B round of funding led by B Capital Group.

The round also saw participation from new and existing investors including Sequoia India, Partners of DST Global, Tencent, GGV, RTP Global, Hummingbird Ventures, Falcon Edge Capital, Rocketship.vc and Unilever Ventures.

Angel investors Kevin Weil, Alexander Will, Kunal Shah, Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal also participated.

Khatabook said the latest funding will help the company ramp up their products and services offerings for India's merchants, as the company builds technology solutions around financial services and a large merchant-focused distribution platform.

"Khatabook is the biggest player in the micro, small and medium business segment in the country, with over 8 million active merchants on the app," Ravish Naresh, Co-founder and CEO of Khatabook, said in a statement late Tuesday.

"Khatabook is playing an important role in the digitisation of MSMEs a sector that forms the backbone of our economy helping to increase their incomes and making them more efficient and competitive. We are looking to work closely with the government and financial institutions to strengthen Indian MSMEs," Naresh said.

In March this year, Khatabook announced a strategic partnership with former India captain M.S. Dhoni.

The World Cup winning skipper would not only invest in Khatabook but also become its brand ambassador, a statement said.

Traditionally, Indian MSMEs follow a complex offline process to keep track of credit flow with their consumers and suppliers, maintaining handwritten notebooks with separate accounts on each page.

Merchants spend around 3-4 hours everyday tracking dues and lose significant revenue due to misplaced ledgers or missed collections.

Khatabook said its solution has been instrumental in helping merchants manage their credit, creating transparency in cash flow, and increasing trust with end consumers solving a critical need for India's MSMEs.

"We have been tracking the company and are impressed by its product suite as it is addressing the critical pain points of merchants across credit tracking, revenue leakage and collections," said Kabir Narang, B Capital Group General Partner & Co-Head of Asia.

"We expect the number of digitally sophisticated MSMEs to double over the next three to five years. Small and medium-sized businesses will drive the Indian economy in the era of COVID-19 and they need digital tools to make their businesses efficient and to grow."

Khatabook also offers features such as online payment collection through UPI and QR; sending periodic reminders to creditors via messages and report generation.

( With inputs from IANS )