Fintech Unicorn Pine Labs May File For $1 Bn US IPO By October-End

Weeks after converting its Singapore parent company into a public company — fintech unicorn Pine Labs is all set to head for a US IPO.

Currently valued at $3 Bn, the point of sale (PoS) and merchant commerce solution provider has been looking to file its paperwork with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its $1 Bn IPO by October end, according to a Mint report.

Pine Labs, which has hired investment banks, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, to manage the proposed IPO, is looking to raise nearly $1 Bn through a mix of primary and secondary stake sales.

Most recently, Pine Labs had raised $100 Mn from US-based investment management company Invesco. In July, it bagged $600 Mn from Fidelity Management & Research Company, BlackRock, Ishana, IIFL at a valuation of $3 Bn.

The startup had raised $285 Mn in May from Baron Capital Group, Duro Capital, Marshall Wace, Temasek among others. Overall, Pine Lab has received investments worth $840 Mn in over 10 rounds.

Backed by marquee investors such as Sequoia Capital, Paypal, Lone Capital and others, Pine Labs entered the unicorn club in 2020, after it closed a deal with US multinational financial services corporation MasterCard.

Founded in 1998 by Lokvir Kapoor, Pine Labs enables large and mid-sized businesses in Asia and the Middle East to accept digital payments. The startup further provides merchant commerce solutions including enterprise automation systems such as customer relationship management and inventory management.

Pine Labs’ cloud-based platform claims to have 140K+ merchants, 3.5 lakh PoS terminals across 3,700 cities and towns in India and Malaysia. More than 15 major banks, seven financial institutions and more than 100 brands are a part of Pine Labs’ platform that processes payments worth $30 Bn every year.

In April this year, Pine Labs acquired Southeast Asia’s fintech startup Fave for $45 Mn to strengthen its digital payments solutions in India as well as in foreign countries.

The fintech giant posted a loss of INR 57.72 Cr in FY20, a 1,654% rise from INR 3.29 Cr in FY19. While the startup’s total revenue grew by 43% to INR 701.62 Cr in FY20, its expenses expanded to INR 765.61 Cr in FY20 from INR 490.86 Cr in FY19.

At present, Pine Labs will be the fourth Indian digital payment startup going public along with Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s Paytm and Bipin Preet Singh’s MobiKwik and Fino Payments Bank. Paytm has filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) of INR 16,600 Cr whereas MobiKwik will be raising INR 1,900 Cr through the public market in the coming months. Fino Payment also recently received market regulator SEBI’s approval for its INR 1,300 Cr IPO.

Pine Labs’ proposed NASDAQ listing comes shortly after Freshworks’ successful listing on the New York-based securities exchange.