BharatPe: a free QR code that became a merchant lender
BharatPe is a New Delhi fintech that serves small Indian shops. Its first product, launched in 2018, was a single UPI QR code that accepted payments from any UPI app and charged the merchant nothing. Its business today is credit: about 60% of the ~$193 million (₹1,667 crore) of operating revenue it reported for FY2025 came from financial services, mainly loans to those same merchants. The company says it works with more than 1.7 crore merchants in over 450 cities.
BharatPe is the brand of Resilient Innovations Private Limited. It owns the NBFC Trillion Loans, holds 49% of Unity Small Finance Bank and has an RBI online payment aggregator licence. It was last valued at $2.85 billion and is led by CEO Nalin Negi.
How it started
Bhavik Koladiya and Shashvat Nakrani, then an IIT Delhi student, started work in July 2017 and incorporated the company in March 2018. The problem they saw was on shop counters: UPI was interoperable by design, but each app handed out its own QR code, and wallets charged merchants for payments. One code for every app, at no cost, was an easy sell.
- A finance co-founder: Ashneer Grover, a former Grofers CFO with degrees from IIT Delhi and IIM Ahmedabad, joined as co-founder and led fundraising.
- A founder in the background: Koladiya, who had a past fraud conviction in the US, moved to a consultant role when institutional investors arrived.
- Five equity rounds in 30 months: $15.5 million in March 2019, $50 million in August 2019, $75 million in February 2020, $108 million in February 2021 at a $900 million valuation, and $370 million led by Tiger Global in August 2021 at $2.85 billion.
How BharatPe makes money
The QR code earns nothing on UPI payments. It brings the merchant in, and the merchant's daily settlements show how much cash the shop takes. BharatPe uses that record to offer collateral-free business loans, repaid through small daily deductions from QR settlements rather than a monthly EMI. In 2025 the average loan was about $1,160 (₹1 lakh) with a weighted tenure of 11 months.
- Lending: loans are funded by partner NBFCs and by Trillion Loans, in which BharatPe bought 51% in 2023 and now holds 74%. Trillion handled 25 to 30% of disbursals.
- Devices: BharatSwipe card machines, launched in 2020, and payment soundboxes are rented to merchants.
- Processing: card and online payment fees, the latter under the payment aggregator licence received in April 2025.
- Consumer products: the Zillion loyalty programme, formerly PAYBACK India and bought for about $27 million in 2021, and a RuPay credit card with Unity Bank launched in August 2025.
The financial record
Revenue from operations went from ~$13.8 million (₹119 crore) in FY2021 to ~$53 million (₹457 crore) in FY2022, ~$119 million (₹1,029 crore) in FY2023, ~$165 million (₹1,426 crore) in FY2024 and ~$193 million (₹1,667 crore) in FY2025, according to consolidated filings reported by Entrackr. The net loss fell from ~$109 million (₹941 crore) in FY2023 to ~$57.1 million (₹492 crore) in FY2024 and ~$10.2 million (₹88 crore) in FY2025.
BharatPe's own measure is kinder. Excluding ESOP costs, it reported a ~$696,000 (₹6 crore) profit before tax for FY2025, against a ~$39.7 million (₹342 crore) loss the year before, and adjusted EBITDA of ~$16.4 million (₹141 crore). Much of the gain came from cost cuts: advertising spend dropped 84% to ~$3.02 million (₹26 crore). The company held ~$101 million (₹872 crore) in cash and bank balances at the end of FY2025.
Unity Small Finance Bank
In 2021 BharatPe and Centrum Financial Services formed a consortium to take over the collapsed Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank. The RBI licensed their joint venture, Unity Small Finance Bank, which opened on 1 November 2021 with over $128 million (₹1,100 crore) of equity capital; PMC's branches became Unity branches on 25 January 2022. Centrum owns 51% and BharatPe 49%, and BharatPe runs Unity's UPI processing as its technology service provider.
The partnership has since soured. Unity proposed raising its authorised capital from ~$464 million (₹4,000 crore) to ~$568 million (₹4,900 crore) so that certain warrants could convert into preference shares, which BharatPe said would dilute its stake without the consent its shareholder agreement requires. On 24 July 2026 the Delhi High Court barred the bank from taking up the proposal while arbitration runs.
The Grover years and the reset
In early 2022 an internal review of alleged financial irregularities led to Ashneer Grover's exit, followed by suits and counter-suits. Koladiya ended his association with the company that August, and CEO Suhail Sameer, in the job since August 2021, stepped down in January 2023. On 30 September 2024 BharatPe and Grover settled: he has no role in the company, part of his shares went to the Resilient Growth Trust and the rest are managed by his family trust.
Nalin Negi, CFO of SBI Card for more than ten years, joined as CFO in August 2022, became interim CEO in January 2023 and full-time CEO in April 2024. The board has been chaired since October 2021 by former State Bank of India chairman Rajnish Kumar. Shashvat Nakrani, the last co-founder in an operating role, stepped back as COO from 1 May 2026 and remains a director.
Who BharatPe competes with
For QR codes and soundboxes BharatPe competes with PhonePe, Paytm and Google Pay; PhonePe and Google Pay together process around 80% of UPI volume. In card machines its rivals include Paytm and Pine Labs, and in online payments, gateways such as Razorpay. In merchant lending, Inc42 reported that BharatPe's financial services revenue grew about 10% in FY2025 while Paytm's fell 15%.
What to watch
- UPI fees: from 15 October 2026 NPCI applies a 0.4% merchant discount rate to person-to-merchant UPI payments above ₹2,000, capped at ₹300, with small merchants exempt. It reopens payment revenue for acquirers, while BharatPe's smallest merchants stay fee-free.
- An IPO: Negi has said a listing will follow profitability and suitable markets. BharatPe raised about $15.7 million (₹135 crore) in debentures in September 2026 after a ~$10.4 million (₹90 crore) debt round in March, and is folding its online payments unit into the parent company.
- Unity: the arbitration will decide whether BharatPe keeps its 49% stake undiluted.
