MobiKwik to invest Rs 300 cr to expand user base, loyalty prog

Digital wallet company MobiKwik will pump in Rs 300 crore this year to be used mainly on loyalty initiatives and expansion of user and merchant base.
The company, which competes with Alibaba-backed Paytm, expects to grow its user base in India from 55 million to 150 million and merchant base to 5 million from 1.4 million currently.
"We aim to increase the number of our users to 150 million by the end of this year. A majority of the Rs 300 crore investment planned will go towards loyalty initiatives, while the remaining will be spent on expanding reach of the platform and network of merchants as well as launching more financial services," MobiKwik Vice President for Growth Daman Soni told reporters here.

Asked how the company would fund the stated investment, he said it will be a mix of existing money it has and fresh funding that it plans to raise.
MobiKwik is looking at raising fresh funding in three months. It has raised over USD 85 million in funding so far.
Its investors include Sequoia Capital, MediaTek, GMO Venture Partners, Tree Line Asia and South Africa's Net1.

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.
The company claimed that it has added 1.3 million merchants and 15 million users post demonetisation.

MobiKwik today also launched its loyalty initiative 'Supercash' to offer reward points at all MobiKwik merchants, including local mom and pop stores.
Additionally, they would also get discounts for transacting using Mobikwik's wallet.
Besides, MobiKwik is also setting up offices across cities and plans to be present in 13 cities by the end of the first quarter of 2017.
"We are also hiring to drive business growth. We should have about 1,400 people in the next few months from 250 people now," Soni said.