PhonePe begins IPO process, set to become third fintech to list in 5 years

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Fintech major PhonePe on Thursday said it had kicked off preparations for a potential listing in the country over two years after it reverse-flipped from Singapore.

 

The announcement comes as the company completes a decade in business operations. PhonePe would be the third fintech company to hit the bourses in five years after Paytm and MobiKwik made their debut on the stock exchanges.

 

“PhonePe has long aspired to be a public company in India, having been founded here and being a leader in India’s fintech industry. In December 2022, PhonePe redomiciled from Singapore to India, and subsequently, established a clear corporate structure with each of its new non-payment businesses as fully-owned subsidiaries,” the Bengaluru-based company said in a statement.

 

PhonePe said its “strong top line and bottom line growth” across business portfolios makes it a suitable time for public listing. The firm’s consolidated revenue from operations grew 73.8 per cent to Rs 5,064 crore in FY24, up from Rs 2,914 crore in FY23. It narrowed its net loss to Rs 1,996 crore in FY24 from Rs 2,795 crore in FY23.

 

PhonePe had to pay about $1 billion in capital gains taxes to the Indian government to complete the domicile shift back to the country. 

In August, the company’s chief executive officer (CEO) Sameer Nigam said that the overhang of the proposed market share cap by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on the volume of UPI transactions a third-party application provider (TPAP) can process was holding PhonePe from going public.

 

In December, the apex payments body extended the deadline for implementing the volume cap by another two years providing a much-needed relief to the UPI market leader. PhonePe corners 47.67 per cent of the UPI market as of January 2025.

The high market share comes on the back of a large user base recorded at over 590 million registered customers. It has a payment acceptance network of over 40 million merchants.         IN THE IPO LANE 

- This would make PhonePe the third major fintech in the last five years to pursue an IPO 

- The announcement coincides with PhonePe’s tenth anniversary of operations

  - The firm’s FY24 revenue grew 73.8% to Rs 5,064 crore, with net loss narrowing to Rs 1,996 crore

  - PhonePe leads the UPI market with a 47.67% share as of January 2025