Refyne, an earned wage access (EWA) solution provider, on Wednesday said it has raised USD 82 million (about Rs 606.6 crore) in funding led by Tiger Global.
The series B round also saw significant contribution coming in from existing international investors – QED Investors, partners of DST Global, Jigsaw VC, XYZ Capital, and RTP Global – and new investor Digital Horizon, a statement said. The funds will be used for product development, expansion of the team, and to ramp up various business functions, it added.
Within just 10 months of being operational, Refyne has raised a total of USD 106 million, it said. The company had raised USD 16 million in series A funding in June last year from QED Investors, Jigsaw VC, XYZ Capital, partners of DST Global and RTP Global. It had raised USD 4.1 million in a seed round in December 2020. “Refyne’s current valuation has grown 6.5x its series A valuation,” Refyne CEO and co-founder Chitresh Sharma said but did not disclose further details.
Refyne partners with organisations to provide a plug-and-play software that allows the latter’s employees to access their real-time earned salary. Earned Wage Access (EWA) is a concept designed as a financial wellbeing solution for employees. It enables employees to track and withdraw their real-time earned pay instantly, without disrupting payroll. EWA is not a loan, therefore Refyne does not charge any interest or processing fees and relieves employees from the pressure of repayment.
For example, the employee will be able to withdraw 30-70 per cent of the 10 days’ worth of salary accrued on the 11th day of the month. This helps employees access funds from their own salary without turning to money lenders or seeking loans. “We built Refyne on the notion that everyone should be able to manage their personal finances without the threat of falling into debt traps due to liquidity shortfalls between pay cycles…Refyne has been on a hyper-growth trajectory and the series B will help scale our business to build financial inclusivity in the workplace and eliminate predatory lending,” Sharma said.
In less than a year, Refyne’s transacting user base has grown 68x and the platform recorded 165x increase in the number of transactions over the period, a statement said. Refyne, founded by Chitresh Sharma and Apoorv Kumar, has partnered with more than 150 organisations, catering to over seven lakh employees. It expects to reach more than three million employees in 12 months.
“We believe Refyne will be the preferred partner for large employers that want to offer Earned Wage Access. We are excited to support Chitresh, Apoorv and the Refyne team, as they work to improve financial wellness for the Indian workforce,” Alex Cook, Partner at Tiger Global, said.
Refyne’s angel investors and advisors include Indian fintech veterans Susir Kumar, Founder of Intelenet, Bobby Mehta, Chairman of Jones Lang Lasalle’s Board, Former Head of TransUnion and Allstate Corp., and private global venture capital investor and entrepreneur Oliver Jung. Its partner companies include Practo, TeamLease, CARS24, Tenon, Shadowfax, Rebel Foods, Acko, BlackBuck, Arti Group, Cafe Coffee Day, among others.
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