CRED’s Last Big Bet, Paytm Brings Back Postpaid, and Urban Company's Strong Debut

CRED’s new credit card isn’t just a product; it’s a desperate roll of the dice in a high-stakes poker game, and its founder, Kunal Shah, is betting it all on the one card he has left: exclusivity. For years, CRED has been a beautiful bubble of investor cash, built on the simple, yet audacious, idea of rewarding a small sliver of India's elite for doing what they were already doing - paying their credit card bills on time.

The critics have always been there, a persistent buzz in the background. "How do they make money?" they'd ask. "The unit economics don't work!" they'd shout. And for a long time, they were right. CRED was burning through capital at an alarming rate, its profitability a distant, hazy mirage. In fact, despite a healthy increase in revenue, its operating losses were still in the hundreds of crores in FY24. The truth is, the company's valuation had to be justified, and the "funding winter" finally brought the chill of reality. A down round in mid-2025, where its valuation was slashed by nearly 45%, was the market’s brutal verdict on a business model that was more about brand-building than bottom-line results. The pressure is on, and the new credit card is the response.

The new CRED IndusInd Bank RuPay credit card is Kunal Shah's answer. On the surface, it’s a brilliant move to pivot from a bill payment platform to a full-fledged financial services company. But beneath the shiny veneer, it's a strategic maneuver to finally monetize its most valuable asset: its curated, high-net-worth individual (HNI) user base. Shah's public statements about "consumer freedom" and moving away from co-branded lock-ins are a clever smokescreen. The real play isn’t about freedom; it’s about control. By offering a card with 5% rewards on e-commerce and 1% on offline spends, CRED is incentivizing its users to not just pay their bills on the platform but to transact on it. They want to be the central nervous system of their members' financial lives.

This isn’t a regular credit card. It’s a carefully crafted Trojan horse designed to embed CRED deeper into the spending habits of India's most profitable consumers.

CRED isn’t launching one card; it's also launching Sovereign, an exclusive, invite-only membership society with an 18K gold-etched credential. This is a direct play to tap into the "ultra-high-net-worth" segment, a group that values status, access, and unique experiences more than standard rewards. By dangling privileges like access to early-stage startup investments and curated art, CRED is transforming itself from a mere fintech into a bespoke concierge service for the elite. It’s an old-school luxury play, but with a modern, digital twist. They’re betting that the allure of a golden card and the promise of "money cannot buy" experiences will be enough to justify their high-cost structure and attract a new, even more lucrative demographic.

CRED’s newest gamble can’t be separated from two defining forces: its advertising playbook and the persona of Kunal Shah. The brand’s surreal, meme-worthy ads — from Rahul Dravid’s “Indiranagar ka gunda” moment to Ravi Shastri’s deadpan sketches — were never about explaining the product, but about sparking curiosity and driving downloads. That approach worked in the era of cheap capital, where awareness mattered more than conversion, but it remains untested when the stakes shift to card spend and profitability. At the center of it all is Shah himself: a founder-philosopher who built and sold FreeCharge, tweets about capitalism and trust, and has crafted a culture at CRED that prizes design, psychology, and exclusivity as much as economics. His admirers see him as visionary, his critics as a brand mystic more interested in ideas than numbers. The success, or failure, of CRED’s new card may finally settle which side is right.

The path to profitability, however, is still fraught with risk. The Indian fintech landscape is a hyper-competitive battlefield. Players like Groww and Zerodha have a strong foothold in the wealth management space, and traditional banks are no slouches in the credit card game. Furthermore, the credit card penetration in India, while growing, is still low compared to global standards. CRED is fighting for a very small, very specific piece of the pie.

The biggest challenge is their fundamental identity. Can a company built on the quirky, meme-filled persona of Kunal Shah and the promise of "useless" CRED coins seamlessly transition into a serious, institutional financial partner? Many users see CRED as a convenience for managing multiple cards, not a financial powerhouse. The new credit card needs to change that perception, and fast.

Let’s go through what else is happening in Indian startup world - Grab your simmering cup of StartupChai.in and unwind with our hand-brewed memes.

“Guess Who’s Back, Back Again”: Paytm Relaunches BNPL Product As Credit Line On UPI Service

After shelving its BNPL service last year, Paytm is bringing back Postpaid, this time as a credit line on UPI. Partnering with Suryodaya Small Finance Bank, the reboot lets users “Spend Now, Pay Next Month” with up to 30 days of short-term credit.

For now, only select customers will get access, but Paytm plans to scale it wider in the coming months.

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“Ye Kathin Drishya Hai”: MobiKwik Loses INR 40 Cr In Fraud, Says INR 14 Cr Recovered

Digital wallet firm MobiKwik has revealed a fraud hit of ₹40 Cr, with only ₹14 Cr clawed back so far.

The scam involved merchants and users colluding to claim unauthorized settlements from Haryana. Authorities have stepped in, freezing bank accounts linked to the fraud.

Read more here

“Swagat Nahin Karoge Hamara”: Urban Company Makes Stellar Market Debut

Urban Company made a strong stock market debut, listing at a significant premium over its initial price of ₹103. The company's ₹1,900 crore IPO saw overwhelming demand, being oversubscribed nearly 109 times overall.

The net proceeds will be allocated towards key growth areas, including technology and cloud infrastructure, marketing, and lease payments.

“Never Gonna Give You Up”: DevX Shares Make Muted Debut On Bourses

Startup accelerator DevX had a lukewarm debut on the bourses, listing at ₹61.30 on BSE - just a notch above its issue price of ₹61.

The stock inched up 5.5% to ₹64.35 soon after, while on NSE it opened flat. A cautious start, but investors are watching if momentum builds ahead.

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1. Lab-grown diamond startup Lucira, founded by ex-Candere’s Rupesh Jain, has raised $5.5 Mn in its maiden round led by Blume Ventures and others. The funds will fuel its omnichannel play with offline stores, a scaled-up design studio, and fresh hiring.
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2. Singularity AMC has closed its second fund at ₹2,000 Cr ($235 Mn) to back growth-stage and pre-IPO startups. With over half the capital already deployed, the fund saw strong participation from DFIs, banks, insurers, and family offices.
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3. Sustainable homeware brand EcoSoul Home has raised $20 Mn in a Series B round led by Accel, with support from Bajaj Financial Securities, JSW Ventures, and others. The funds will help expand its eco-friendly product line and scale global growth.
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4. Credit infra startup FinBox has raised $40 Mn in a round led by WestBridge Capital, with participation from A91 Partners and Aditya Birla Ventures. The funds will fuel tech upgrades, global expansion, and scaling of its B2B credit products.
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5. Fintech startup Pelocal has secured $5 Mn from UNLEASH Capital and Unicorn India Ventures. The funds will drive product development, new use cases, and its go-to-market push for WhatsApp-based payment solutions.
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6. Scalekit has raised $5.5 Mn in a round co-led by Together Fund and Z47 to strengthen its authentication stack for AI apps. The startup will use the funds to expand features like agent auditability, tool-calling, and background agent support.
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7. PlaySuper has raised $1 Mn in seed funding to scale its rewards-based gaming commerce model. The platform integrates real-world rewards into gameplay, aiming to boost monetization and retention in India and Southeast Asia.
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