Pine Labs Completes Merger With Digital Gift Card Startup Qwikcilver

IPO-bound fintech unicorn Pine Labs has completed a merger with digital gift card startup Qwikcilver Solutions. Notably, the fintech startup acquired Qwikcilver for $110 Mn in March 2019.  

Following the acquisition, Pine Labs has now completed the required documentation work pertaining to the deal. Further, Qwikcilver has been consolidated into a sole business entity of Pine Labs. 

Besides,  Qwikcilver’s prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) will now be issued by Pine Labs under the former startup’s name.

According to the startup, following the merger, Qwikcilver’s existing products, platforms, and programs will continue to operate. 

“Qwikcilver and Pine Labs have established strong business synergies post the 2019 acquisition. The formal merger now will strengthen the association further and will usher in a new era of innovation and growth for our issuing business in India and our focused international markets,” said Kumar Sudarsan, president of Issuing Business, Pine Labs. 

Founded in 2008 by Kumar Sudarsan, Bhaskar Vasudevan and TP Pratap, Qwikcilver offers various card-based interventions including discount, prepaid, loyalty and digital gift cards to diverse industries including airlines, ecommerce, large corporates and hospitality, among others.

Qwikcilver said that it is a prepaid, stored value and gift card provider to companies thereby, help them enhance sales, drive operational efficiencies, acquire as well as retain customers. 

Qwikcilver has a presence in India, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Australia. 

Set up in 1998 by Lokvir Kapoor, Pine Labs offers point-of-sale payments in India and Southeast Asia. 

So far in 2022, Pine Labs has acquired two fintech startups Setu for $70 Mn and Qfix Infocomm for an undisclosed amount. Besides, the fintech unicorn invested in Mosambee in April this year. 

In March, Pine Labs raised a $50 Mn funding round from Vitruvian Partners at a post-money valuation of over $5 Bn. Prior to that, it secured $150 Mn from Alpha Wave Ventures and bagged $20 Mn from the Indian commercial bank SBI. 

During the same month, Pine Labs initiated an INR 100 Cr employee stock ownership programme (ESOP) liquidity program.

Pine Labs’s cap table includes Sequoia India, Actis Capital, Temasek, PayPal and Mastercard, among others.

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