With the latest fund infusion, PhonePe has raised a total of $850 million of capital in an ongoing funding round of $1 billion.
India’s fintech platform PhonePe has raised an additional $100 million from private equity firm General Atlantic in an ongoing funding round worth $1 billion. With this latest infusion, General Atlantic has invested $550 million in the Walmart-backed decacorn.
“PhonePe is pleased to announce that it has secured an additional $100 million investment from General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity firm, as part of its ongoing fundraise,” the startup said on Monday. “The investment reaffirms General Atlantic’s conviction in PhonePe’s business and growth potential.”
India’s most valuable fintech startup PhonePe is valued at $12 billion. With the latest fund infusion, the startup has raised a total of $850 million of capital in an ongoing funding round of $1 billion. The company raised $100 million from General Atlantic and other investors in April as a part of the same fundraise. It raised $200 million in March from Walmart, $100 million from Ribbit Capital, Tiger Global, and TVS Capital Funds in February, and another $350 million in January from General Atlantic.
The funds raised by the company will be utilized to scale up PhonePe’s payments and insurance businesses in the country. It also plans to launch and “aggressively” scale new businesses like lending, stockbroking, etc over the next few years.
Founded in December 2015, PhonePe has over 460 million registered users, and “one in four Indians are now on PhonePe,” the company claims. The fintech company continued to command nearly 50% of the UPI payments segment and reported over 421.69 crore transactions worth Rs 7.10 lakh crore in April, according to data from the National Payments Corporation of India.
The startup was acquired by Indian e-commerce major Flipkart in 2016, but the two firms completed the separation process last year. The company relocated its headquarters from Singapore to India last year.
Last month, it was reported that PhonePe is preparing to launch its app store for Android users in the country. The app store, which is said to offer a more localized experience not just in terms of language but discovery and consumer interest perspective, would offer support for 12 languages and 24×7 live chat.
Meanwhile, in April, PhonePe launched its new Shopping app called “Pincode” built on the Indian government’s Open Network for Digital Commerce or ONDC platform. With a focus on hyperlocal commerce, Pincode will offer users the convenience of online shopping at local stores they usually buy from. The app has begun its pilot in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru.
