Clear (formerly ClearTax), which helps individuals and businesses file tax returns online, has raised $75 million from investors led by Kora Capital with participation from US-based payments major Stripe that made its first investment in an Indian startup. The current round also saw participation from Alua Capital, Think Investments and other existing investors, a senior Clear official told ET.
Clear refused to share its valuation after the new financing, but people with knowledge of the development said it is valued at around $700 million. It was last valued at around $250 million, they added.
Just last week, Stripe – the most valued startup in the US at $95 billion – had made its first acquisition in India, buying Recko, a Bengaluru-based provider of payments reconciliation software for internet businesses. The back-to-back deals mark a shift in its strategy for India.
Founded in 2011 by Archit Gupta, Srivatsan Chari and Ankit Solanki, Clear offers solutions like GST and e-way bill software, along with business incorporation and compliance services for enterprises. It also launched a platform for tax saving and mutual fund investment in January last year. In total, the 10-year-old startup has now raised around $140 million.
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Currently, Clear has two major lines of business. Through its consumer offering, ‘BLACK’, the platform allows individuals to file income tax returns and build wealth through investment in mutual funds. It also provides a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform to corporates helping them pay GST bills, create electronic invoices and pay bills digitally.
It also provides its software to over a million small and medium businesses (SMBs) helping them file their GST, and allowing them to plan their taxes, while providing payment reconciliation support.
There are more than 6 million users who use Clear’s web and app-based platform to calculate their taxes. It plans to launch invoice-based credit offering for its over 3000 enterprise customers, by next year.
Archit Gupta, cofounder and CEO of Clear, said the company will use newly raised capital to accelerate its expansion into business-to-business (B2B) credit and payments and grow its business in international markets such as Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
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