PhonePe secures additional $100m funding at $12bn valuation

Indian fintech platform PhonePe has secured an additional $100 million in funding at a $12 billion valuation, as part of the company’s target to raise up to $1 billion in capital.

The latest funding, which follows the recent $350 million primary investment from General Atlantic, takes the total funding to $450 million.

The new investment comes from Ribbit Capital, Tiger Global Management, and TVS Capital Funds.

Sameer Nigam — PhonePe Founder and CEO said: ‘’I would like to thank Ribbit Capital, Tiger Global and TVS Capital Funds for reposing their faith in us.

“We are privileged to have a great set of leading global investors, both existing and new, who believe in our mission of building massive technology platforms to bring at-scale financial and digital inclusion in India.’’

PhonePe anticipates to use the funds to expand its payments and insurance businesses in India, apart from launching and expanding new businesses such as stockbroking, lending, account aggregators, and ONDC-based shopping.

Scott Shleifer — Tiger Global Management Partner said: “We are excited to continue our partnership with PhonePe as they lead the digital payments sector in India, a market we believe is still in the early stages with significant growth potential ahead.”

Founded in 2015, PhonePe claims to have more than 440 million registered users currently.

PhonePe said that it has successfully digitized around 35 million offline merchants span over Tier 2, 3, and 4 cities and beyond, covering 99% of pin codes in the country.

Walmart acquired PhonePe as part of the retailer’s Flipkart acquisition in 2016.