Malavika Velayanikal · · 2 min readFreeCharge raises $80 million as its uniquely Indian rewards-based model gains traction
FreeCharge, which provides a platform for recharging mobile phones and data cards in India, today announced that it has raised US$80 million in series C funding. New investors Valiant Capital Management and Tybourne Capital Management came on board in this round. Existing investors Sequoia Capital, RuNet, and Sofina also participated.
FreeCharge has seen transactions take off on its platform in sync with the smartphone explosion in India. This attracted Sequoia in a US$33 million series B funding round in September last year, and now it’s poised to scale up faster this year.
Rewards-based model
It’s a uniquely Indian business model of rewarding users for using the platform to recharge their phones, and could be replicated in other markets. FreeCharge CEO Alok Goel told Tech in Asia that it will also leverage its growing user base for targeted marketing.
The company recently launched FreeCharge ‘Delights’ which are rewards for consumers on purchases from leading e-commerce sites in India. It also has tie-ups with food outlets such as McDonalds.
Alok Goel, CEO of FreeCharge, says:
FreeCharge is at the forefront of the mobile commerce revolution which is taking place in India right now. We have been ahead of the curve and as a result, 85 per cent of our transactions originate from mobile.
This round of funding will be used for product innovations on mobile. The company says it has a customer base of more than 20 million. For every recharge done on the FreeCharge platform, the company gives customers discount coupons from food joints and retailers, equivalent to the recharge amount.
Editing by Yuvraj Gurung
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