KreditBee has secured $280 million in Series E funding, joining the unicorn club with a $1.5-billion valuation. The round comes as the digital lender is preparing for an IPO. The round was led by Motilal Oswal Alternates, Hornbill Capital and MUFG-backed Dragon Funds.

There was also participation by WhiteOak Capital and AP Moller Holding along with existing backers Premji Invest and Advent International. Bengaluru-based KreditBee is the second Indian unicorn of 2026 after Juspay, which raised $50 million in a follow-on Series D from WestBridge Capital at a valuation of over $1 billion. KreditBee plans to use the fresh capital to expand its lending portfolio, enter new markets and invest further in technology, including AI. Before the latest round, the company had raised $100 million in January 2023 through an extended Series D round led by Advent International, according to a media report.

It was valued at $700-800 million during that phase. Pre-listing moves: As part of its IPO plans, the company is in the process of merging its two Indian entities, the parent Finnovation Tech and NBFC arm KrazyBee. It paid around $100 million in taxes to move its headquarters from Singapore to India in 2024, Mint reported. "We expect to be IPO-ready after the merger and will time the listing based on market conditions," co-founder Madhusudan Ekambaram told the Mint, adding that these plans could advance later this year or early next year.

Ekambaram started the company with Vivek Veda and Karthikeyan Krishnaswamy in 2016. Initially, KreditBee offered small-ticket digital loans to mostly students before expanding into personal, business and two-wheeler loans and lending against property. Scale and financials: KreditBee's platform has crossed 230 million app downloads and serves over 18 million borrowers. As of March 2026, it had facilitated 60 million-plus loans across India and was managing assets of $1.5 billion. Finnovation saw flat revenues in FY25 - Rs 682.1 crore versus Rs 700 crore a year earlier. Profit, however, jumped nearly 88% to Rs 237 crore from Rs 126.4 crore. KreditBee competes with lending players Navi, Fibe, Moneyview, Kissht and PayU's LazyPay.

In March, Moneyview filed its DRHP to launch an IPO, which includes a Rs 1,500-crore fresh issue of shares and an offer for sale by existing investors, who will offload up to 13.6 crore equity shares. The company had indicated that it may undertake a pre-IPO placement of up to Rs 300 crore. For early Moneyview backer Accel, the IPO is expected to generate returns of over 10X, based on the company's last reported valuation of $1.21 billion in FY24. Another investor, Ribbit Capital, may be set for a multibagger exit with over 23X gains.