Indian digital payments company PhonePe said on Friday it has raised $200 million (nearly Rs. 1,650 crore) from Walmart, a majority backer at a pre-money valuation of $12 billion (nearly Rs. 99,000 crore).
PhonePe, already India’s most valuable payments company and one of the country’s most valued startups, said the investment is part of its ongoing fundraising of up to $1 billion (nearly Rs. 8,250 crore).
It has raised $350 million (nearly Rs. 2,900 crore) from private equity firm General Atlantic and $100 million (nearly Rs. 820 crore) from Ribbit Capital, Tiger Global and TVS Capital Funds in the past two months, at the same valuation of $12 billion.
US retail giant Walmart, which acquired a majority stake in PhonePe in 2018, will continue as a majority investor, the Indian company said, without disclosing its stake.
Despite a funding winter, India’s digital payments space has been a bright spot due to the popularity of online payments and startups’ ambitions to branch out into the lucrative financial services industry.
PhonePe said it plans to use these funds to build and scale new businesses, including insurance, asset management and lending.
PhonePe split from Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart late last year when it also moved its registered headquarters from Singapore to India, with Walmart taking on the nearly $1 billion tax bill for the move.
According to some reports, the move was designed to ease access to the country’s highly regulated financial services industry, particularly lending.
© Thomson Reuters 2023