PhonePe prepares for $1.5 billion IPO: All you need to know
Digital payments
and
financial services platform
PhonePe is gearing up for a $1.5-billion initial public offering (IPO) later this year. The Walmart-backed company has tapped Kotak Mahindra Capital, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley to arrange the offering.
Key details:
Draft paper filing:
The company may file its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) by August.
Target raise:
It plans to raise around $1.5 billion through the listing, which is approximately Rs 13,000 crore, as per a Bloomberg report.
Valuation:
This would value the company at $15 billion, a significant jump over its last private valuation of $12 billion, in 2023.
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Key developments
Flipback to India:
In 2022, PhonePe, which was domiciled in Singapore, redomiciled to India. This is an important legal step for companies planning to list on Indian stock exchanges. The fintech firm was the first of many startups that returned to India driven by better listing prospects and regulatory ease.
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The fintech firm added that it had also moved the ownership of its recently acquired IndusOS Appstore (OSLabs Pte Ltd) from Singapore to India.
Fundraise:
In May 2023, PhonePe completed raising $850 million in multiple rounds from General Atlantic, Ribbit Capital, Tiger Global and Walmart. It was valued at over $12 billion after these funding rounds. Between 2020 and 2023, the company's valuation more than doubled from $5.5 billion to $12 billion.
Financials:
PhonePe narrowed its net loss by 29% in financial year 2024 to Rs 1,996 crore, from Rs 2,795 crore in FY23. The improved financial performance was backed by 74% growth in its operating revenue to Rs 5,064 crore, from Rs 2,914 crore a year before.
February 2025:
The company publicly stated its intention to list on Indian bourses. The fintech startup did not give a timeframe for the IPO, saying the plans were initiated after considering revenue growth and improvement in its path towards profitability.
April 2025:
The digital payments firm transitioned from a private entity to a public company in April, according to filings with the Registrar of Companies (RoC). The conversion was approved by the company's shareholders through a special resolution passed at an extraordinary general meeting held on April 16.
Diversification woes
PhonePe is the market leader in the
Unified Payments Interface
(UPI) space, and even though it has diversified to become a full-stack financial services platform, offering credit, insurance, and stockbroking over the past three years,
UPI
remains its core business.
In FY24, PhonePe's financial services business brought in Rs 207.4 crore—a mere 4% of its Rs 5,064 crore total revenue. While the company has multiplied its revenue over the last few years, crossing the Rs 5,000-crore mark in overall income last year, diversifying its income streams is proving harder than expected.
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