Cash Karo, Ratan Tata: Swati Bhargava is a native of Ambala. She was the topper of Haryana in Class 10. (File)
Swati Bhargava is one of the most successful women entrepreneurs in the country. From her education, to job to launching her own business, the swashbuckling entrepreneur remained numero uno. After her successful corporate career, she and her husband Rohan launched India’s largest cashback portals, CashKaro, whose Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) crossed Rs 4000 crore last year. GMV is the value of all gods sold via customer-to-customer or e-commerce transactions before deducting any fee or expenses. The company was backed by none other than Ratan Tata, who pumped money into the company in 2016.
CashKaro gives customers of ecommerce portals cashback in their bank accounts. It also gives gift vouchers. Last year, the company also reported a revenue of whopping Rs 225 crore. Here’s Swati Bhargava’s success story.
Swati Bhargava is a native of Ambala. She was the topper of Haryana in Class 10. She went to SIngapore on a scholarship to complete her Class 11 and Class 12. She also scored 100 marks in Class 10 mathematics exam. She graduated from London School of Economics with majors in Economics and Mathematics.
She worked for Goldman Sachs between 2005 and 2010.
She decided to start her own business because she was fed up with the monotonous life.
In 2009, she married Rohan, an investment banker. When they were planning their honeymoon, they did their fight bookings through a cashback website in the United Kingdom. They saved a lot of money. They got the idea for their own startup from the website.
They launched the cashback company in the United Kingdom.They launched a similar company in India in 2013 with 17 employees and interns. They would work remotely at odd hours to match the time zone of India. In 2014, they wanted to raise money. They contacted their seniors and friends from LSE. Within 48 hours, they raised twice the amount they intended to raise. They raised Rs 25 crore from Kalari Kapital in 2015.
The biggest shot in the arm came when they were funded by Ratan Tata in 2016. They met him at Taj Mumbai. “In a country that loves to save money, you are giving free money. This is not fair,” Tata had told them.
CashKaro has a simple business model. They receive 5-10 percent from their retail partners. They pass this benefit to their consumers. All the parties benefit from this.
“Today CashKaro has over 18Mn downloads, is the only VC-backed Cashback site, has raised ~$15 million in Series A funding led by Kalaari Capital & Series B funding led by Korea Investment Partners, and also drives more than $500 million in sales annually. We have also raised investment from Mr Ratan Tata, former Chairman, Tata Sons,” she writes on her LinkedIn profile.
She is also a noted motivational speaker. She has delivered keynote addresses at IIT, ISB, ET Women Empowerment Summit, TiECon, TEDx, AdTech, IAMAI Forums, Economic Times Conferences, Niti Aayog and Delhi Government initiatives.
Last year, she secured Rs 130 crore in Series C funding from Singapore’s Affle Global. The company has so far raised Rs 255 crore from investors such as Ratan Tata, Kalaari Capital, Korea Investment Partners etc.
The company aims to create a user base of 100 million users over the next few years.
