BharatPe, an Indian fintech startup, has raised $370million in a new round financing. This funding will allow it to scale its business aggressively over the next two-years. This is the 19th Indian startup that has become a unicorn in this year's market, up from the 11 last year.Tiger Global led the new Series E round and valued the startup based in New Delhi at $2.85 Billion (post-money), it announced Tuesday evening. The new round saw participation from Steadfast Capital and Dragoneer Investor Group. This brings the total equity raise for startups to date to more than $580 million.Tuesday's news confirms TechCrunch's June scoop in which we reported that the startup, aged four years, was seeking to raise $250 million at a $2.5 billion pre-money value. BharatPe was worth approximately $900 million in its Series A round in February and $425 million in the previous year.Ashneer Grover, co-founder of BharatPe, confirmed that the startup was seeking to raise $250 million. However, investors kept requesting more. There are also secondary transactions included in the new investment.BharatPe has Coatue and Ribbit Capital as its investors. Sequoia Capital India is also a shareholder. It operates an eponymous service that helps offline merchants accept digital payment and secure working capital.India is the second largest internet market in the world, but much of India remains offline.Merchants who own small businesses such as street tea stalls or neighborhood shops are some of those that are not accessible via the internet. BharatPe uses QR codes and point-of-sale machines to make it easy for these merchants to accept digital payments.The startup serves over 7 million merchants in more than 130 Indian cities. It has said that it has distributed close to $300 million to its merchant partners. The startup does not charge merchants to access universal QR codes, but it is interested in lending.The startup will expand its product range and work with Centrum Financial Services. It was granted license by India's central bank (Reserve Bank of India), to establish a small finance bank. The license was granted by Centrum Financial Services, which has partnered with BharatPe. The Indian startup claims they are equal partners.Tiger Global's growing interest in India is further illustrated by Tuesday's development. In recent months, the New York-based firm has supported dozens of Indian startups including DealShare, edtech Classplus and Apna, which are apps that help blue-collar workers to connect with recruiters. Urban Company is another home services platform.Infra.Market is an Indian startup that assists construction and real estate firms with materials procurement and logistics. It announced Tuesday that it has raised $125 Million in a Tiger Global led round.
