PhonePe Gets Rs 586 Crore Funding From Parent Flipkart
The funding also comes amid reports that Flipkart owner Walmart is looking to hive off PhonePe into a separate entity.
Flipkart has invested Rs 585.66 crore in its digital payments arm PhonePe, providing much-needed firepower against rivals Google Pay, Paytm and Amazon Pay.
The funding also comes amid reports that Flipkart owner Walmart Inc. is looking to hive off PhonePe into a separate entity, a move that would help the payments firm raise funds independently.
PhonePe Pvt. Ltd., Singapore (formerly Flipkart Payments Pvt. Ltd.) was allotted 13,81,278 shares and the total amount paid was Rs 585,66,18,720, according to documents sourced by business intelligence platform Tofler.
Flipkart declined to comment on the PhonePe funding. In July this year, PhonePe had received a fund infusion of about Rs 698 crore from its parent firm.
PhonePe isn’t the only payments app raising funds.
Paytm recently announced a $1 billion fundraise, led by the U.S.-based asset management firm T Rowe Price. Existing investors Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., SoftBank Group Corp. and Canada-based venture capital firm Discovery Capital.
Digital payments have seen significant growth in India since demonetisation on Nov. 8, 2016. Players like PhonePe and Paytm have witnessed strong growth in user base as well as transaction value and volumes.
Also Read: PhonePe Has Turned Walmart Into A Serious Payments Player
PhonePe has seen its losses mount to Rs 1,904.72 crore in 2018-19 from a loss of Rs 791.03 crore for the year ended March 2018. Its revenue from operations. however, rose manifold to Rs 184.22 crore in 2018-19 as against Rs 42.79 crore a year ago.