Financial services firm BharatPe has raised Rs 50 crore in debt from digital debt financing platform Northern Arc Capital. This is BharatPe’s sixth round of debt financing in 2021. The New Delhi-based platform had earlier raised Rs 200 Crore from Alteria Capital, InnoVen Capital, and Trifecta Capital in January. The additional capital was raised from ICICI Bank and Axis Bank.

Founded in 2018, BharatPe is an offline acquirer of merchants and it provides them with a QR code for UPI payments, POS machine for card acceptance, and loans to small merchants.

Suhail Sameer, Group President, BharatPe, said, “At BharatPe, we are committed to bridge the credit gap for SMEs and small merchants in the country. We have considerably ramped up our lending business in the last year and have set an ambitious target of facilitating disbursals to the tune of $1 billion to 10 lakh+ merchants by the end of the current fiscal (FY22). As we aggressively build this vertical and roll out products in the secured lending space, we will continue to partner with institutional debt providers to help empower millions of small merchants in India”.

BharatPe’s new backer, Northern Arc Capital focuses on improving access to finance for under-served businesses and individuals in India. The firm has directly disbursed more than Rs 3,500 crore over the last financial year to MSMEs, households, financial institutions, and mid-market corporates. Northern Arc has also financed over Rs 1,000 crore from globally reputed Development Financial Institutions to under-banked businesses and households.

Bama Balakrishnan, COO, Northern Arc, said, “Northern Arc has continually worked towards extending credit to like-minded organizations such as BharatPe that enable financial access to small businesses and merchants across the country. This transaction is a testament to Northern Arc’s commitment towards fulfilling the credit requirement of the under-banked segments of the country”.