PhonePe Raises $200 Mn From Walmart To Scale New Businesses

Fintech decacorn PhonePe said on Friday (March 17) that it has raised an additional $200 Mn in primary capital from Walmart, at a pre-money valuation of $12 Bn.

This new funding comes as a part of PhonePe’s ongoing $1 Bn fundraise, having shifted its domicile to India last year. In a press statement, the payments decacorn said it expects further investments and will announce the same in due course.

PhonePe said it will deploy the new funding to scale new businesses such as insurance, wealth management, lending, stockbroking, ONDC-based shopping and account aggregators. The fintech decacorn added that the fresh capital will also help it integrate new UPI features such as UPI Lite and Credit on UPI.

Speaking on the fundraise, Sameer Nigam, CEO and founder of PhonePe said, ‘’We would like to thank Walmart, our majority investor, for their continued support of our long-term aspirations. We are excited about the next phase of our growth as we build new offerings for Indian consumers and merchants, along with enabling financial inclusion across the nation.’’

President and CEO for Walmart International Judith McKenna added, “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.”

With this tranche, the company has raised $650 Mn since the start of 2023 from several global investors, including Ribbit Capital and General Atlantic. The fintech unicorn is now expected to raise around $350 Mn more across tranches in the coming months.

PhonePe, picked up by Flipkart in 2016 and then by Walmart in 2018, is India’s largest payments app on the UPI platform by market share. 

In February 2023, the fintech platform processed 351.9 Cr UPI transactions – 46.71% of all UPI transactions in the month – amounting to INR 6.2 Lakh Cr or 50.18% of the total UPI transaction value of all transactions on the platform during February.

The investment from Walmart comes a week after widespread media reports said Flipkart’s cofounder and ex-CEO Binny Bansal was set to invest $100-150 Mn in PhonePe, making it one of the largest individual investments in the company.

Walmart has been bullish on its two Indian properties, Flipkart and PhonePe, having reportedly set aside $2.5 Bn for both companies as the ecommerce and fintech giants move towards their respective IPOs.