PhonePe's IPO Is At Least Two Years Away, Says CEO Sameer Nigam

The massive $1 billion fundraising by PhonePe Pvt. would be the last before the company heads for the bourses, according to Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Sameer Nigam.

The Walmart-backed fintech company is currently in the middle of the exercise after having already raised $650 million. The company is raising money at a $12 billion valuation and has attracted investors such as General Atlantic Co.

"Given the current range of ambitions we have, the $1 billion should be sufficient to take us to group-level profitability," Nigam told BQ Prime.

"We have three markers to be ready for an IPO. One is profitability. Second, we need to have developed enough momentum with our financial services and new platforms that the question is how big this can get. We don't want people speculating about whether these businesses will work. Thirdly, the market has to correct itself. It's not very attractive right now. So the IPO is at least a couple of years away," he said.

PhonePe also forayed into hyperlocal e-commerce via a new consumer app dubbed Pincode on Tuesday. On not labelling it as a super app, Nigam said the term has been abused a lot.

"In the past, we've been told that PhonePe is a superapp, but we've summarily said no. PhonePe is predominantly a payments app, and now it offers financial services. Similarly, there are things that won't make sense in the Pincode app as we grow. It's simply the one destination for everything hyperlocal. To that end, it will have many categories."

At the Pincode launch event on Tuesday, Nigam said that this will not be the last new consumer app PhonePe launches this year.

"We acquired IndusOS last year. They're working on building out an app store, so that will be a separate app. We'll have to figure out the value proposition and timing there."

As the fundraising exercise has progressed, PhonePe has expressed its intent to scale new businesses like insurance, wealth management, lending, stockbroking, and account aggregators.

For insurance, the right place for the new consumer apps would be inside the PhonePe app, Nigam said. "But wealth management might need a new app. Stockbroking, too, may end up being a separate app and a different website for sure. It's a different experience, very high-frequency."