PhonePe to file for confidential IPO by September, eyes $10-15 billion valuation

In February, PhonePe appointed Kotak Mahindra Capital, JP Morgan, Citi, and Morgan Stanley as lead advisors for its IPO

Fintech major PhonePe is set to file for a confidential IPO by the end of September, sources close to the development told businessline. The IPO size is expected to be around $1.5 billion (approximately ₹12,750 crore).

The Walmart-backed payments and financial services platform is aiming for a valuation in the range of $10–15 billion, the sources added.

While the IPO may provide some liquidity to a few investors, promoter Walmart, which owns over 70 per cent in PhonePe, is unlikely to offload much stake in the offering. “Investors such as Tiger Global and General Atlantic may seek a partial exit through the IPO,” said sources close to the development. Both investors hold less than 9 per cent stake each. PhonePe is also expected to raise some fresh capital in the process.

This move comes close on the heels of fellow fintech unicorn Groww securing regulatory approval for its own confidential IPO filing, signaling a busy IPO season for Indian tech start-ups in the second half of FY25.

PhonePe’s IPO has been in the works for several quarters. In a strategic step toward listing, the company converted into a public entity — PhonePe Limited — in April 2025. Earlier, in 2022, PhonePe shifted its domicile from Singapore to India, incurring nearly ₹8,000 crore in taxes, in what was seen as a signal of its long-term commitment to Indian capital markets.

Accounting for over 45 per cent of UPI transactions, PhonePe is the market leader in QR-based payments and also operates in the payment gateway space. Beyond payments, it has expanded into financial products such as insurance and loans. According to NPCI data, PhonePe processed around 8.93 billion UPI transactions in July 2025.

For the fiscal year ending March 2024, the company reported a 73 per cent surge in operating revenue to ₹5,064 crore, with an adjusted PAT of ₹197 crore, a sharp turnaround from the previous year’s loss of ₹738 crore.

In February, PhonePe appointed Kotak Mahindra Capital, JP Morgan, Citi, and Morgan Stanley as lead advisors for its IPO.

With Meesho, Lenskart, and others also preparing for public listings, PhonePe’s IPO is poised to be one of the marquee tech offerings in what is shaping up to be a blockbuster year for Indian capital markets.

Published on September 4, 2025