Digital payments app PhonePe becomes a decacorn following the closing of a $350m funding round, which doubles its valuation to $12bn.
The PayTech company has not finished there, with plans to raise another $650m as part of the round, according to a report from TechCrunch. General Atlantic served as the lead investor to the round.
It is not clear who else invested in the round, but PhonePe majority investor Walmart is expected to join the round.
With the equity injection, PhonePe hopes to make investments into infrastructure, including the development of data centres and to build more financial services. Capital will also be used to enter new business verticals, including insurance, wealth management and lending.
PhonePe founder and chief executive Sameer Nigam told TechCrunch, “I would like to thank General Atlantic and all our existing and new investors for the trust they have placed in us. PhonePe is proud to help lead India’s country-wide digitization efforts and believes that this powerful public-private collaboration has made the Indian digital ecosystem a global exemplar.
“We are an Indian company, built by Indians, and our latest fundraise will help us further accelerate the Government of India’s vision of digital financial inclusion for all.”
PhonePe was founded in 2015 and was acquired by e-commerce firm Flipkart. PhonePe split from Flipkart at the end of 2022, with Flipkart not planning on re-entering the payments market.
PhonePe has established itself as a single app for all things finance. Through the platform, users can pay bills, send money, buy gold, invest and shop at online stores, as well as order food, book flights and purchase groceries. Users can also choose to pay from options like UPI, the PhonePe wallet or debit and credit cards.
Earlier this month, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has reportedly sold half of its position in India-based payments company Paytm.
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