General Atlantic Doubles Down On PhonePe, Invests $600 Mn

SUMMARY

PhonePe raised $600 Mn from existing investor General Atlantic in a secondary transaction

The investment was aimed at helping employees exercise their stock options and meet tax obligations ahead of the fintech unicorn’s public listing

Last month, Inc42 reported that PhonePe initiated ESOP buyback worth up to INR 700 Cr to INR 800 Cr which would benefit at least 1,000 employees

IPO-bound fintech major PhonePe has raised $600 Mn (INR 5,304 Cr) from its existing investor General Atlantic via a secondary transaction, sources told Inc42.

With the investment, General Atlantic’s stake in PhonePe has increased to about 9% from 4.4% earlier. The investment is aimed at helping employees exercise their stock options and meet tax obligations ahead of the fintech unicorn’s public listing, the sources added.

No founders or existing investors sold their shares as part of the transaction, they said.

Questions sent to PhonePe on the development remained unanswered till the time of publishing this story.

Notably, US-based General Atlantic had earlier invested $550 Mn in the Walmart-owned company in 2023.

This comes over a month after PhonePe pre-filed its DRHP with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The company is said to be looking to raise about INR 12,000 Cr ($1.35 Bn) via a complete offer for sale.

Last month, Inc42 exclusively reported that PhonePe initiated ESOP buyback worth up to INR 700 Cr to INR 800 Cr which would benefit at least 1,000 employees.

With an eye on its public listing, PhonePe converted to a public entity in May 2025. The company’s offerings include digital payments, insurance broking, wealth management, stock broking, hyperlocal commerce through Pincode, and app distribution via the Indus Appstore.

In September, the Walmart-owned fintech company received the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) nod to operate as an online payment aggregator (PA).

On the financial front, the company’s revenue zoomed 40.5% to INR 7,114.8 Cr in FY25 from INR 5,064.1 Cr in FY24. PhonePe also managed to narrow its net loss by 13.5% to INR 1,727.4 Cr in FY25 from INR 1,996.1 Cr in the previous year.