- The funding is expected to enable the next wave of growth for Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and create digital financial services at scale for Indians.
- The announcement comes after PhonePe recently demerged from Flipkart and shifted its base from Singapore to India.
BENGALURU, India and NEW YORK, NY –, 2023 – PhonePe, one of India’s largest fintech platforms, today announced that it has raised $350 million in funding from General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity firm, at a pre-money valuation of $12 billion. Raised million. The General Atlantic investment is the first tranche of total fund raising of up to $1 billion that PhonePe plans to initiate in January 2023. Other new key global and Indian investors have already signed up for the second tranche, which is expected to be completed next month. This comes after PhonePe recently announced fund raising, shifting of origin from Singapore to India and complete separation from Flipkart.
PhonePe plans to bring in fresh funds to make significant investments in infrastructure, including the development of data centers and help it offer financial services at scale in the country. The company also plans to invest in new businesses including insurance, wealth management and lending. The fund raising is expected to support PhonePe as it seeks to turbo-charge the next wave of growth for UPI payments in India, including UPI Lite and Credit on UPI, to enable greater financial inclusion for Indians.
Established in December 2015, PhonePe has become a homegrown success story with the company’s significant expansion driven by India’s emerging digital ecosystem. By creating products and offers tailored to the Indian market, PhonePe today has over 400 million registered users, meaning more than one in four Indians are on PhonePe. The company has successfully digitally connected over 35 million offline merchants spread across Tier 2, 3 & 4 cities and beyond, covering 99% pin codes of the country.
“I would like to thank General Atlantic and all of our existing and new investors for their faith in us. PhonePe is proud to help lead India’s nationwide digitization efforts and believes this powerful public-private collaboration sets a global example of the Indian digital ecosystem. We are an Indian company, built by Indians, and our latest funding will help us further accelerate the Government of India’s vision of digital financial inclusion for all,” said Sameer Nigam, Founder and CEO, PhonePe. “We look forward to completing the next phase of our growth by facilitating the next wave of growth for UPI payments in India, as well as investing in new business verticals such as insurance, wealth management and lending.”
“Sameer, Rahul and the PhonePe management team have set a clear mission to drive payments digitization and create widespread access to financial instruments for the people of India. They are focused on adoption of inclusive products developed on Open API based ‘India Stack’. This vision is in line with General Atlantic’s long-standing commitment to supporting high-growth businesses focused on inclusion and empowerment.” said Shantanu Rastogi, managing director and head of India at General Atlantic. “We are excited to partner with the PhonePe team to help enable the next generation of digital innovation in India.”
PhonePe also recently announced its complete demerger from the Flipkart group. After a partial separation from Flipkart in December 2020, several shareholders of Flipkart, led by Walmart, acquired shares in the recent separation. The move will help both the companies chart their own growth paths, build their businesses independently and unlock and enhance enterprise value for the shareholders of both the companies.
About PhonePe:
PhonePe was founded in December 2015, and has emerged as India’s largest payments app, enabling digital inclusion for consumers and merchants alike. With 435 million (435+ million) registered users, one in four Indians is now on PhonePe. The company has successfully digitized 3.5 crore (~35 million) offline merchants across Tier 2,3,4 and beyond, covering 99% pin codes of the country. PhonePe is also a leader in the Bharat Bill Pay System (BBPS), processing over 45% of transactions on the BBPS platform. PhonePe entered financial services in 2017, providing users with secure and convenient investment options on its platform. Since then, the company has introduced several mutual fund and insurance products that provide equal opportunity to every Indian to unlock access to money flow and services. PhonePe was recently recognized as the most trusted brand for digital payments as per the Brand Trust Report 2022 by Trust Research Advisory (TRA).
About General Atlantic
General Atlantic is a leading global growth equity firm with more than four decades of experience providing capital and strategic support to more than 445 growth companies throughout their history. Established in 1980 to partner with visionary entrepreneurs and deliver lasting impact, the firm combines a collaborative global outlook, sector specific expertise, a long-term investment horizon and a deep understanding of growth drivers to partner with great entrepreneurs and management teams to build innovative businesses can be extended worldwide. General Atlantic currently has over $73 billion in assets under management including all products as of September 30, 2022, and over 215 investments located in New York, Amsterdam, Beijing, Hong Kong, Jakarta, London, Mexico City, Miami, Mumbai are professional. , Munich, Palo Alto, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore, Stamford and Tel Aviv. For more information about General Atlantic,
Please visit the website: www.generalatlantic.com.
