PhonePe, an Indian fintech company backed by Walmart and the country’s leading payment app, has submitted an initial public offering (IPO) application, as confirmed by a company spokesperson on Wednesday.
This application was filed confidentially, allowing businesses to keep their details private until the IPO launches.
The company plans to go public by mid-2026, according to a source familiar with the situation. PhonePe’s last valuation was $12 billion after raising funds from private markets in 2023.
The source requested anonymity due to lack of authorization to speak to the media. PhonePe has not responded to inquiries about the offering details.
Walmart, in an emailed statement, mentioned that while PhonePe has started steps towards a potential listing in India, the filing is just one of many milestones in the IPO process and doesn’t guarantee an IPO.
India’s lively markets attract more listings
PhonePe’s IPO plans align with the robust Indian primary markets, where fundraising is expected to exceed the record $20 billion set in 2024. Companies like LG Electronics’ Indian division and PayPal-backed Pine Labs also plan to enter the markets.
As part of PhonePe’s IPO, existing investors including major stakeholder Walmart, Microsoft, and venture capital firm Tiger Global are expected to sell some of their shares, according to the source. The exact number of shares to be sold by each investor is not yet disclosed. The IPO aims to raise approximately 120 billion rupees ($1.35 billion), as reported by Moneycontrol.
Walmart, Microsoft, and Tiger Global did not immediately respond to Reuters’ inquiries.
Founded in 2015, PhonePe is the leading payments platform on India’s unified payments interface (UPI) with over 45% market share by volume. In August, it processed 9.15 billion of the 20 billion transactions on UPI, according to data from the National Payments Corporation of India. It boasts over 600 million registered users and provides payment solutions for more than 40 million merchants.
In a regulatory filing ahead of the IPO, PhonePe revealed that its losses decreased in the year ending March 2025 to 17.2 billion rupees from a loss of 19.96 billion rupees in the year ending March 2024.
The company’s revenue from operations increased by 40% to 71.15 billion rupees.
Last year, India postponed the implementation of market share caps on UPI, benefiting PhonePe and competitor Google Pay.
