Digital payments company PhonePe has raised $350 million in funding from global private equity firm General Atlantic. The funding gives PhonePe a pre-money valuation of $12 billion. It also makes PhonePe the most valued private Indian fintech company.
This investment is the first tranche of PhonePe’s $1 billion fundraising. Other global and Indian marquee investors may also participate in the funding round.
The company will use the funds to improve its infrastructure and build out its financial services offering. It also plans to invest in new businesses, including insurance, wealth management and lending.
“We look forward to delivering the next phase of our growth by investing in new business verticals like Insurance, Wealth Management, and Lending, while also facilitating the next wave of growth for UPI payments in India,” said Sameer Nigam, founder, and chief executive officer at PhonePe.
Walmart-owned PhonePe was last valued at $5.5 billion in December 2020 when it raised $700 from Walmart.
PhonePe was founded by Sameer Nigam, Rahul Chari, and Burzin Engineer in December 2015 and was later acquired by Flipkart Group in 2016. The company recently moved its headquarters to India and separated from the Flipkart Group.
honePe has over 400 million registered users and over 35 million offline merchants. The company doubled its operating revenues from Rs 690 crore in FY21 to Rs 1,646 crore in FY22. However, losses also increased from Rs 1728 crore to Rs 2014 crore.
