Prosus offers to invest $100 million in Mintifi Finserve at unicorn valuation

Global alternatives investor Prosus has joined the race to pick up a minority stake in supply-chain financing startup Mintifi Finserve, offering to invest up to $100 million in the company, two people with knowledge of the development said. The round will value the seven-year-old startup at a billion dollars, making it the latest entrant to the coveted unicorn club, they added. 

“The firm has given a term sheet and is currently carrying out due diligence,” said the first person cited above, adding, “The company has shown tremendous growth, hence the heightened investor interest.”

Prosus will compete with the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Bain Capital and others for the minority stake, this person said. “This will be a mix of primary and secondary share sale in which some of the early backers of the company are likely to sell part of their stakes,” the second person added. 

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Last year, Mintifi raised $110 million in a funding round led by PremjiInvest. It counts Norwest Venture Partners, Elevation Capital and IFC among its other backers. So far it has raised about $175 million from investors across four rounds. It was valued around $500-550 million last year, one of the people cited above said. In 2022, it raised $40 million in a Series C funding round from investors led by Norwest Venture Partners and Elevation Capital. 

Attempts to reach Agarwal for comment did not elicit a response. A Prosus spokesperson did not respond to an email seeking comment. 

Rapid growth

Mintifi saw its revenue rise three-fold to ₹319.1 crore in FY24 from ₹150 crore in FY23. According to a VCCircle report, the company posted consolidated net profit (before deducting employee stock option costs) of ₹97.8 crore for FY24, up from ₹24.8 crore in the previous fiscal year. The company has steadily grown its assets under management (AUM), the VCCircle report said. AUM stood at ₹2,008 crore as of March 2024, up from ₹1,181 crore a year earlier, and a five-fold increase from ₹410 crore in FY22.

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“Financial services continue to attract a lot of investor interest in India. Besides providing a pseudo play at the India growth story, financial services also offers investors a secular upward ride, especially in companies that are digitally driven,” the second person added.

Founded in 2017 by Anup Agarwal, Ankit Mehta and Sonjoy Shome, Mintifi provides supply-chain payments, invoicing and purchase financing solutions to distributors and retailers in the supply-chain space. It works with more than 100 brands in India such as Tata Motors, Jockey, Finolex, Varun Beverages, Parle Agro, Bridgestone, TVS Motorcycles and Berger Paints.