Walmart’s investment
With this tranche, the company raised $650 million from several investors worldwide. This is PhonePe’s third biggest revenue this year alone.
Fintech giant PhonePe has raised $200 million in seed funding from Flipkart’s parent Walmart for a pre-funding valuation of $12 billion. The latest funding is part of PhonePe’s ongoing efforts to raise $1 billion in equity capital, having moved into India last year. With this tranche, the company raised $650 million from several investors worldwide. PhonePe said it expects to invest more in the near future. The latest funding comes days after the Walmart startup raised $100 million in equity capital from Ribbit Capital, Tiger Global and TVS Capital Funds, at a pre-funding valuation of $12 billion, in February.
PhonePe intends to deploy these funds to create and develop new businesses such as insurance, wealth management, lending, stock exchange, ONDC-based trading and account aggregation. The fundraiser will help PhonePe “turbo-charge” following the expansion of UPI payments in India, including UPI Lite and credit on UPI.
We would like to thank Walmart, our many investors, for their continued support of our long-term goals. We are excited about the next phase of our growth as we build new offerings for Indian consumers and businesses, while enabling investment across the country,” said Sameer Nigam, CEO and The founder of PhonePe said.
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According to Walmart International President and CEO, Judith McKenna, PhonePe continues to expand its offerings and provide greater access to financial services for Indians. “India is one of the fastest growing digital, power and economic economies in the world, and we are delighted to have the opportunity to continue supporting PhonePe.”
This is PhonePe’s third big fund this year alone. In January 2023, General Atlantic invested $350 million in the company.
Fintech startup Walmart has announced its split with e-commerce company Flipkart in December 2022. As part of the deal, former owners of Flipkart Singapore and PhonePe Singapore, led by Walmart, directly bought shares in PhonePe India.
However, Walmart remains the sole shareholder of both retail companies. So far, PhonePe has become the first fintech app to launch support for international UPI payments. This release currently supports international customer stores in the UAE, Singapore, Nepal and Bhutan with local QR codes. Users can pay foreign currency directly from their Indian bank, just like they use an international debit card.
PhonePe claims to have more than 400 million subscribers, and more than one in four Indians currently use the app. The digital payments giant controls over 40% market share of the UPI network. It controls 40% of the UPI network’s sales and claims to have more than 400 million registered users, with more than one in four Indians currently using the app.
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