By Ron Chen, Correspondent ASEAN Region
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authiority (ADIA) has picked up a minority stake in the IPO-bound Mobikwik for nearly US$20 million (about Rs 150 crore) at a valuation of US$700 million, according to an RoC filing by the digital payments company.
According to investment banking sources, the Gurugram-based company is working on a Rs 1,200-crore primary share sale, which is likely to hit the markets by September. Since March 2021, it has raised more than Rs 235 crore from investors such as ex-Blackstone India head Mathew Cyriac, Padma awardee Sat Pal Khattar, and former Infosys Chief Investment Officer VG Dheeshjith. Its other investors include Sequoia Capital and Bajaj Finance.
Mobikwik was recently in the news for an alleged data breach, following which the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) ordered a forensic audit. The personal data of its about 10 million customers was allegedly stolen by hackers. The company has denied the allegations.
The startups claims to conduct one million daily transactions across its network, including digital wallets and services like mobile phone recharge and utility bill payments. Over three million merchants are on its network and serves over 107 million users.
According to a PwC report in December 2020, the country’s digital payments market may reach Rs 163 lakh crore by next financial year. With Facebook Inc.’s WhatsApp winning permission to offer payments locally, competition among digital payments players like Google Pay, Walmart’s PhonePe and Paytm has increased.
