MobiKwik eyes fresh funding in 3 months

Digital payments firm MobiKwik today said it is looking at raising fresh funding in three months as it revs up expansion to compete head-on with rivals like Paytm.
The company, which has raised over USD 85 million in funding so far, also expects to break-even by middle of next year.
"We are looking at raising a decent amount of fund. While we are well-capitalised at this time, fresh funding will help us expand our customer base of merchants and consumers. We have grown at a massive pace in the weeks after demonetisation and the funds will help us strengthen our operations and expand," MobiKwik founder and CEO Bipin Preet Singh told PTI.

He, however, declined to comment on the amount being raised as the discussions are still on.
"We are talking to both new and existing investors... these things take time, we expect the funding do come in three months," he said.
MobiKwik has so far raised about USD 85 million from investors like South Africa's payments major Net1, Sequoia Capital, American Express, Tree Line Asia and Cisco Investments.

Following the government's decision to scrap high-denomination notes, digital payment platforms like MobiKwik and Paytm have seen manifold growth in user addition and transactions.
Singh said the company is adding about 10,000 merchants a day to its platform that will enable them to use MobiKwik's mobile wallet to accept payment from their customers.

MobiKwik -- which competes with companies like Alibaba-backed Paytm -- has 45 million users and one lakh merchants on board.
Asked about hitting profitability, Singh said the company is focussed on building a profitable business and expects to break-even by middle of 2018.