Rajan Bajaj, the founder of Slice, recently commented on a Twitter thread where he wondered what he needed to do to turn his startup into a unicorn. At the ripe age of 28, the founder seems to have found out the trick. The startup, which had a value of under $200 million in a round of financing in June this year, managed to raise a $220 million fundraise that was valued at just over $1 billion- according to a report stated by the startup on Monday.
Insight Partners and Tiger Global led the Series B round of the Bangalore-based startup. Advent International’s Sunley House Capital, a private equity firm, Moore Strategic Ventures, Anfa, and existing investors such as Blume Ventures, Gunosy, and 8i also managed to participate in it.
Slice Joins Forces With Tiger Global
Just last month, TechCrunch had reported that Insight Global and Tiger Global were in talks to sponsor Slice. A source close to the matter informed TechCrunch that the round could definitely move up to $250 million.
Over the last few years, the startup has established itself as one of the major card-issuing firms in India. The startup offers a number of cards that have been aimed at the tech-savvy professionals that reside in the country. Bajaj noted that the users had been on Snapchat and Instagram for years on end.
According to reports, the median age of Slice customers is 27, which is also the same age as the members of the team building the app. It has been noted that the market for credit cards is quite massive in the country, and the potential for expansion is massive. Now, despite a billion bank accounts already in the country, there is just a tiny fraction of this population that is covered by the credit rating system.
Slice has been tackling the one problem most Indian banks face- the creditworthiness of the individual. The startup has been able to deal with it through its own underwriting system- which also saw it launch a card with a $27 limit.
