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PhonePe, one of India’s largest fintech platforms, on March 17 said it has raised an additional $200 million (about ₹1,649 crore) in seed capital from Walmart at a pre-money valuation of $12 billion.
This new funding comes as part of PhonePe’s ongoing funding of up to $1 billion in capital following its domicile shift to India last year. With this tranche, the company has raised $650 million (around ₹5,360 crore) from multiple global investors, PhonePe said in a statement.
The pre-money valuation of $12 billion makes Walmart-owned PhonePe the most valuable fintech in the country, surpassing payments service provider Razorpay, which was last valued at $7.5 billion. PhonePe competes with Google Pay and Paytm.
“The company expects to make further investments, which will be announced in due course,” the statement said. “PhonePe plans to deploy these funds to build and expand new businesses such as insurance, wealth management, lending, stockbroking, ONDC-based shopping and account aggregators.”
The fundraising will help PhonePe turbo-charge the next wave of growth for UPI payments in India, including UPI Lite and Credit on UPI.
Speaking on the fundraising, Sameer Nigam, CEO and Founder, PhonePe said, “We would like to thank our majority investor Walmart for their continued support of our long-term aspirations. We are excited about the next phase of our growth as we look to complete Build innovative offerings for Indian consumers and merchants while enabling financial inclusion in the country”.
The statement, however, did not specify how much stake Walmart now holds in PhonePe.
Judith McKenna, President and CEO, Walmart International, said: “We are excited about the future of PhonePe and we are confident in how it continues to expand its offerings and provide access to financial services for Indians at large India is one of the world’s most digital, dynamic and fastest growing economies, and we are delighted to have the opportunity to continue supporting PhonePe.”
