Hyderabad-based Equal Secures $10 Mn, Valuation Reaches $80 Mn

According to media reports, Hyderabad-based identity verification startup Equal has raised USD 10 million (around Rs 84 crore) in its first institutional funding round, led by Prosus Ventures, Tomales Bay Capital, and founder Keshav Reddy. Following this round, the company’s valuation reached USD 80 million, according to the company's statement.

As per media reports, Keshav Reddy, from the GVK family, founded Equal in 2022 with Rajeev Ranjan, previously Swiggy’s director of engineering. Equal’s platform aims to streamline know-your-customer (KYC) processes, prevent fraud, and support regulatory compliance through integrations with approximately 50 identity databases.

According to media reports, besides major institutional investors, several prominent industrialists and funds also took part in the round. These include Blume Ventures, DST Global, Quona VC, Gruhas VC (backed by Zerodha cofounder Nikhil Kamath), Flipkart cofounder Binny Bansal, Adani group’s Karan Adani, Cred founder Kunal Shah, and Parth Jindal of JSW Cements.

As per media reports, Equal plans to use the funds to expand its operations, forge strategic partnerships, and develop a framework to enhance India’s data-sharing ecosystem.

According to media reports, Equal is building three technology stacks for different sectors, banking and financial services, employment, and consumer tech. In August, the company acquired a strategic stake in OneMoney, an account aggregator platform. Pending Reserve Bank of India’s approval, Equal intends to expand in the regulated sector and seek additional licenses from financial authorities.