PhonePe receives $200 million in additional funding from Walmart

Digital payments and financial services unicorn PhonePe has received $200 million in additional funding from Walmart at a pre-money valuation of $12 billion. Walmart is the company's largest shareholder but the company did not reveal its shareholding. PhonePe announced in January that it will be raising $1 billion in tranches.

According to a statement, PhonePe expects to raise further funding which will be announced in due course. The company has received $350 million from General Atlantic and $100 million from Tiger Global Management, Ribbit Capital and TVS Capital since January.

Commenting on the investment, president and CEO of 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, one of India's largest fintech platforms, will utilise the money to build and scale new businesses like insurance, wealth management, lending, stockbroking, ONDC-based shopping and account aggregators. The company competes with Google Pay and Paytm.

"We are excited about the next phase of our growth as we build new offerings for Indian consumers and merchants, along with enabling financial inclusion across the nation," said Sameer Nigam, CEO and Founder of PhonePe.

Founded in 2015 by ex-Flipkart executives Sameer Nigam, Rahul Chari and Burzin Engineer, PhonePe was acquired by Flipkart in 2016 and then in 2018, Flipkart was bought by Walmart. In January this year, fintech major PhonePe domiciled in India from Singapore, its investors had to pay Rs 8,000 crore. During that time, Nigam stated in a public statement that returning to India was the right choice because it is where the firm was founded and is primarily focused.