Binny Bansal in talks to invest $100-150 million in PhonePe: Report

Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal is reportedly in talks to invest around $100-150 million in PhonePe. If followed through, the transaction will be among the largest individual investments in a new-age firm.

As reported in The Economic Times, a person in the know said that the amount is yet to be finalised but the talks have been on and are likely to close soon.

PhonePe has already raised nearly $450 million in primary capital from PE giants General Atlantic, Tiger Global, Ribbit Capital, and more at a valuation of $12 billion. Walmart is the largest investor in PhonePe with 70 per cent stake and other Flipkart shareholders including Tiger Global, Tencent, Qatar Investment Authority and Microsoft were expected to buy fresh stake as the company planned for a new ownership structure. 

The online payments app clocks about 4 billion transactions monthly, Walmart International CEO Judith McKenna had said last month. It competes directly with the likes of Google Pay, Amazon Pay, and WhatsApp Pay on the UPI network. 

Flipkart had acquired PhonePe in 2016, and Binny Bansal was instrumental in closing of the deal. He stayed on its board too and is closely associated with PhonePe founders Sameer Nigam and Rahul Chari, as mentioned in the report. 

Bansal, who co-founded Flipkart with Sachin Bansal, is known for his investments in new-age firms including Curefood a cloud kitchen platform that hived off Cultfit, new-age insurer Acko, electric scooter-maker Ather Energy, urban mobility startup Yulu, lending platform Rupeek, and scores of other companies. 

Also read: PhonePe raises $100 mn from Ribbit Capital, Tiger Global and TVS Capital at $12-bn valuation