Walmart invests $200 million in India’s most valuable fintech startup PhonePe
Nickie Louise
Posted On March 17, 2023
Indian fintech platform PhonePe has raised $200 million in primary capital from its majority owner Walmart even as other startups struggle to raise new funding amid fallout from Silicon Valley Bank.
In this funding round, PhonePe has raised $650 million from several global investors as part of its ongoing fundraising of up to $1 billion, which values the Bengaluru-headquartered company at $12 billion pre-money. PhonePe said it will use the new capital infusion to build and scale new businesses like Insurance, Wealth Management, Lending, Stockbroking, ONDC-based Shopping, and Account Aggregators.
The news comes just a year after PhonePe raised $100 million at a $12 billion valuation in February 2022, which was part of PhonePe’s primary fundraise that took place in January 2022 when the company raised $350 million from General Atlantic.
The fintech giant will also the funding proceeds to help the company turbo-charge the next wave of growth for UPI payments in India, including UPI lite and Credit on UPI. At a $12 billion valuation, PhonePe is India’s most valuable fintech startup that competes with Alphabet Inc Google Pay, and Paytm, which is currently valued at nearly $5 billion.
“We are excited about PhonePe’s future and have confidence in how it continues to expand its offerings and provide access to financial services for Indians at scale. India is one of the world’s most digital, dynamic and fastest growing economies, and we are pleased to have the opportunity to continue to support PhonePe,” Judith McKenna, president and CEO of Walmart International said in a statement.
Founded in 2015 by CEO Sameer Nigam, Husna Nc Engineer, and Rahul Chari, Maharashtra, India-based PhonePe is a UPI-based online payment system that provides a mobile payment app that enables users to transfer money instantly from their smartphones and devices.
Before founding PhonePe, Nigam also worked at Flipkart as the Senior Vice President of Engineering. He started his first company, Mime360, in 2009. The company connects content owners with content creators.
“We offer every Indian an equal opportunity to accelerate their progress by unlocking the flow of money and access to services,” PhonePe says on its website.
