Walmart has injected an additional $200 million into Indian mobile payments specialist PhonePe, enhancing its position as a majority investor.
In a statement, PhonePe said it plans to deploy the funds to build and scale new businesses in the areas of Insurance, Wealth Management, Lending, Stockbroking, ONDC-based Shopping and Account Aggregators.
The fundraise will also help the firm further grow UPI payments in India, including UPI lite and Credit on UPI.
The new funding comes as a part of PhonePe’s ongoing fundraise of up to $1 billion in capital. It had recently raised $450Mn in capital from General Atlantic, Ribbit Capital, Tiger Global and TVS Capital Funds.
President and CEO for Walmart International Judith McKenna said: “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.”
PhonePe was founded in December 2015 and has emerged as one of India’s largest fintech platforms. The latest data shows that PhonePE retained its top position in India for number of UPI transactions in February, processing 47.71% of total transactions.
Together, PhonePE and Google Pay accounted for over 81% of UPI transactions in the month and 84.52% of transaction value. More than one in three adult Indians are now said to be on PhonePe, with 450 million registered users.
The latest funding in primary capital was raised at a pre-money valuation of $12 billion. The company said it expects to announce further investments in due course.
