Accel-backed Drip Capital, a digital cross-border trade finance platform for small and medium businesses (SMBs), has raised $23 million in equity in a fresh round of funding, along with $90 million in debt.
Japanese institutional investors GMO Payment Gateway and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) will join Drip Capital’s cap table, while International Finance Corporation (IFC) and East West Bank are financing the debt.
The company said the capital will allow it to expand its services. It, however, did not disclose the valuation.
The Mumbai and California-based company, founded by Pushkar Mukewar and Neil Kothari in 2016, offers collateral-free working capital to SMBs involved in cross-border trade. It works with over 9,000 sellers and buyers across over 100 countries.
“Debt is what fuels our business. Most of the debt is used to fund the assets on the platform,” Mukewar told VCCircle.
The funding will help Drip Capital speed-up market expansion and support the development of new products tailored to customer needs, the company said.
“We want to be a one-stop global trade financing and facilitation platform. We have already launched forex and raw material procurement support, beyond our core business of trade finance,” Mukewar said.
“Given the opportunity in India & the US, we have decided to focus on deepening our presence in these geographies. We do plan to go beyond these geographies in the longer run,” he added.
The latest round of funding comes nearly three years after Drip Capital raised a $40 million in equity Series C funding round, along with a $135 million in debt in 2021. This round was led by San Francisco-based TI Platform.
It raised its Series B round in July 2019, securing $25 million led by Accel, along with participation from Trusted Insight and GC1 Ventures, Wing VC, Sequoia Capital India and Y Combinator.
Drip Capital had raised $15 million in a Series A funding round from Accel, Sequoia India, Wing VC and others in June 2018. Previously, it also received $5 million in seed funding from Y Combinator, Accel and others.
With the latest round, it has raised about $640 million in equity and debt funding so far.
“ We look forward to combining the expertise of SMBC Group with Drip Capital’s technologies to optimise global trade and enable opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses. " – Keiji Matsunaga, general manager of digital strategy department, SMBC.
The company claims to have achieved cash profitability.
It is planning to double its revenue over the next two years, maintaining a 40% growth rate, Mukewar said.
