PhonePe May Raise $1.5 Billion in IPO, to File Draft Paper by August

PhonePe, the Walmart-owned digital payments platform, is expected to raise around $1.5 billion through its upcoming initial public offering (IPO). The company, which recently shifted its domicile to India and became a public company, is reportedly targeting a valuation of up to $15 billion.

The plan was reported by Bloomberg, citing sources. The report also mentioned that PhonePe could file its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) for the listing as early as August.

Earlier reports confirmed that the Walmart-owned firm has appointed advisers including Kotak Mahindra Capital, JP Morgan, Citi, and Morgan Stanley for the IPO.

On April 16, PhonePe formally changed its name from “PhonePe Private Limited” to “PhonePe Limited” following approval at a general meeting—an important legal step for companies planning to list on Indian stock exchanges. As per regulations, this change must be approved by the Central Processing Centre of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), which issues a fresh Certificate of Incorporation upon approval.

For FY24, PhonePe narrowed its losses to ₹1,996 crore, down from ₹2,795 crore in FY23, despite an increase in share-based payment expenses. During the same period, the company’s revenue surged by 74% to ₹5,064 crore, compared to ₹2,914 crore the previous year.

Excluding employee stock option (ESOP) expenses, PhonePe reported an ‘adjusted profit after tax’ of ₹197 crore for the first time, according to its annual report.

ESOP-related expenses have climbed sharply over the past few years—from ₹843 crore in FY21 to ₹2,193 crore in FY24. The increase is attributed to one-time factors such as the company’s redomiciling to India and a significant jump in its valuation, from $5.5 billion to $12 billion in its most recent funding round.

As of its last fundraising in 2023, PhonePe’s valuation stood at $12 billion. By March 2024, the platform had approximately 53 crore registered users and 20 crore monthly active users. It also processed over 770 crore transactions per month, amounting to a total monthly transaction value of ₹10.5 lakh crore.