Flipkart’s digital payments app PhonePe Pvt Ltd (India) has received Rs697.9 crore from its parent entity in Singapore called PhonePe Pvt Ltd (Singapore), previously known as Flipkart Payments Pvt Ltd.
According to filings sourced by business research platform, Paper.vc, PhonePe Singapore had infused the funds in the India entity by subscribing to 2,022,946 shares in the latter at ₹3,440 per piece.
This is not PhonePe Singapore’s first fund infusion in PhonePe.
In March this year, PhonePe, had received ₹763 crore from its parent. The capital infusion comes at a time when Flipkart had, nearly two years ago, announced a $500 million funding commitment to the digital payments app to boost its operations.
PhonePe was valued at $1.5 billion valuation at the time Walmart bought 77% of the Flipkart group at a total valuation of around $21 billion. Investment advisory firm KeyBanc Capital Markets said in a 24 June note that Walmart’s stake in PhonePe alone could be worth more than $14 billion in the medium term.
Digital payments at physical retail stores in India are estimated to grow at an annual average pace of more than 20% through 2023 to $135 billion, according to KeyBanc Capital Markets’ estimates.
Moreover, peer-to-peer payments are expected to add another $150 billion to PhonePe’s total addressable market, the analyst said. Larger rival Paytm was valued at around $10 billion when Berkshire Hathaway invested $300 million in the company last year, Mint reported earlier this month.
Source: Mint