IFC Plans to invest $40 million in upGrad; $150 million loan to Bajaj Finance 

IFC-to-invest-$40-million-in-Upgrad_-promoters-pare-stake-to-75%International Finance Corporation (IFC) a member of the World Bank Group, plans to invest USD 40 million (about Rs 290 crore) in upGrad, an online up-skilling platform and IFC has proposed to loan up to $150 million to Bajaj Finance Ltd.

About investment in upGrad:

  • upGrad was founded by Ronnie Screwvala, Phalgun Kompalli, Mayank Kumar and Ravijot Chugh(Promoters) in 2015 by investing over Rs 170 crore.
  • Now, the promoters’ holding in the firm came to 75 per cent after the investments of USD 160 million in April 2021 (USD 40 million from IFC and a USD 120 million funding from Singaporean investor Temasek Holdings). The two external investors IFC and Temasek hold the remaining 25 per cent.
  • Currently the company is valued at $850 million in turn moving towards a unicorn status.
  • Ronnie Screwvala’s UTV was acquired by Disney at an enterprise valuation of USD 1.4 billion in 2013

Note – A unicorn company, or unicorn startup, is a private company with a valuation over $1 billion. As of April 2021, there are more than 600 unicorns around the world.

About the Loan proposal to Bajaj Finance:

  • IFC has proposed a senior loan of up to $150 million to Bajaj Finance Ltd. for up to 5 years to enable the company to expand its lending to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) and women owned MSMEs.
  • After obtaining the loan, Bajaj Finance plans to increase its lending to MSME segment to about $600 million.

Recent Related News:

United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) National Central Cooling Company or Tabreed & IFC are set to invest USD 400 Million (~2900 Crore) in Capital deployment in India & South-East Asian countries for building cooling service infrastructure.

About upGrad:

Establishment – 2015
Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
MD – Mayank Kumar
Executive Chairman – Ronnie Screwvala

About Bajaj Finance:

It is the third largest non-banking finance company (NBFC) in India
Establishment – 1987(Incorporated as Bajaj Auto Finance Ltd)
Headquarters –  Pune, Maharashtra
Chairman – Sanjiv Bajaj

About International Finance Corporation (IFC):

Establishment – 1956
MD, Executive Vice President – Makhtar Diop
Headquarters – Washington D.C., USA





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