Groww Becomes Eighth Indian Unicorn Of 2021The Bengaluru-based startup entered the coveted club after raising $83 million in its Series D round

Bangalore-based investment app Groww became the latest member of the prestigious Unicorn club, after it raised $83 million in its Series D round. The investment was led by Tiger Global along with existing investors Sequoia Capital India, Ribbit Capital, YC Continuity and Propel Venture Partners. The investment has pushed the startup's valuation from $250 million to over a billion now.

This is the week's fourth startup to have entered the coveted club after Meesho, Cred, and Pharmeasy parent firm API Holdings turned Unicorn. This is also the country's eighth startup to cross the billion mark valuation this year.

Groww founded by four Flipsters, Lalit Keshre, Harsh Jain, Ishan Bansal, and Neeraj Singh in 2017 allows users to invest in mutual funds, including systematic investment planning (SIP) and equity-linked savings, gold, as well as stocks, including those listed at U.S. exchanges. The app offers every fund that is currently available in India.

The platform predominately targets the millennials of the country to invest in the market. The startup has on boarded over 8 million registered users of which two-thirds are first-time investors. Over the past few years, the app has roped in several social media influencers to advertise for the platform.

On the development Keshre who is the chief executive officer and co-founder of the company said, "Only around 25 million people in India are investing in stocks or mutual funds. We will continue working to change this. The new capital will help us invest in new products, acquire talent and continue building our financial education platforms."

Commenting on the investment Scott Shleifer, partner, Tiger Global Management, said, "We are excited to partner with Groww as they help democratize access to investing in India. We believe the market opportunity is huge and expect Groww will have many years of efficient growth ahead."

Groww competes against Nikhil Kamath led Zerodha, which gain the unicorn status even after being bootstrapped in 2020.