Karbon Brings in $12M Pre-Series A Funding

Corporate card FinTech Karbon Card has raised $12 million in pre-Series A funding, which it will use for operations, product development and hiring new employees to double its headcount to 60 within the next six months and operations, Mint reported.

Bengaluru-based Karbon offers startups four benefits: credit with no personal guarantee or fixed deposits; payments transactions through corporate cards to its customers; rewards specific to the startups’ requirements, such as AWS credits with $50,000; and software products, according to the report.

Karbon’s pre-Series A fundraising round included backing from FinTech unicorn Ramp, Rainfall Ventures, Roka Works, Y Combinator and other global investors, the report stated.

The company was selected by Y Combinator in its summer 2021 batch. It previously raised $3.5 million from Orios Venture Partner and 2AM VC, according to the report.

“Excited to be partnering with Ramp, the global corporate card leader, to build the most customer centric card platform for Indian startups and SMBs with a $20 billion market opportunity at present,” said Karbon Co-Founder and CEO Pei-fu Hsieh per the report. “We are solving a major challenge faced by Indian startups and small businesses while availing corporate cards from the banks that ask for 110% deposit guarantee, personal guarantees and massive amount documentation.”

Karbon also offers intuitive expense management through WhatsApp, the report stated. Most of Karbon’s revenue comes through interchange fees. The company replaces personal credit cards for company use with corporate cards.

“We are impressed with what Karbon has built so far and are looking forward to seeing them deliver more value for Indian SMBs and startups,” said Ramp Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer Karim Atiyeh per the report.

Last year, Karbon Card secured $2 million in a fundraising round that included PayU Founder and Pine Labs CEO Amrish Rau and Cred Founder Kunal Shah.

Read more: India Corporate Card Startup Karbon Lands Funding

Hsieh and Amit Jangir started Karbon Card in 2019 as an alternative to corporate cards without strict terms including high fixed-deposit collaterals and personal guarantees. The money was slated for operations, market growth and product development.