Walmart pumps $200 million in Indian fintech PhonePe in ongoing fundraise

BENGALURU (Reuters) – Indian digital payments firm PhonePe said on Friday it has raised $200 million from majority backer Walmart Inc at a pre-money valuation of $12 billion.

PhonePe is already India’s largest payments company and one of the most highly-valued startups in the country. The investment is part its ongoing fundraise for up to $1Billion.

The company has received $350 million from General Atlantic, $100 million from Ribbit Capital and Tiger Global, and a valuation of $12 billion from TVS Capital Funds.

American retail giant Walmart, which in 2018 acquired a majority stake in PhonePe, will remain a major investor, the Indian company stated without disclosing its stake.

Despite the funding freeze, the Indian digital payments market has seen a surge in popularity due to online payments and startup ambitions to expand into lucrative financial services.

PhonePe stated that it will use these funds to help build and scale new businesses, including lending, wealth management, and insurance.

PhonePe was separated from Flipkart, the Indian e-commerce company. It also moved its registered headquarters from Singapore, India to India in late 2013. Walmart paid the almost $1 billion tax bill.

According to some reports, the relocation was done to facilitate entry to the highly-regulated financial services sector, particularly lending.

(Reporting by Meenakshi Maidas in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D’Souza)

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