Payments firm MobiKwik raises $3.38 mn in fresh funding

Digital payments firm One MobiKwik Systems Pvt. Ltd, which runs MobiKwik, has raised around Rs 24 crore ($3.38 million) in a fresh round of funding led by existing investor Sequoia Capital India.

According to the company’s filings with the Registrar of Companies, Sequoia led the round by putting in Rs 15 crore ($2.11 million).

The company’s other existing investors South African payment solutions and transaction processing company Net 1 UEPS Technologies Inc and Japan’s GMO Payment Gateway accounted for the rest.

The company raised this in multiple tranches from October this year. The last infusion from Net1 and GMO came on 14 December 2018, the filings revealed.

Both these investors were part of the $40-million and $50-million rounds that the company raised between May and August 2016.

A back-of-the-envelope estimate by TechCircle revealed that the company raised this sum at a valuation of roughly around $281 million (Rs 1,985.37 crore). In January this year, MobiKwik’s valuation shrunk by 15% to $279 million from an estimated $327 million. MobiKwik’s valuation decreased as non-banking finance company Bajaj Finance increased its stake in the firm to 12.60% from the 10.83%.

MobiKwik co-founder and CEO Bipin Preet Singh told TechCircle that the latest infusion was part of a larger funding round in which new investors could possibly put in money. However, he did not disclose the targeted ticket size or the identity of the potential investors.

“Our focus for the next two-three years is to build on the strong start to financial services in 2018,” SIngh said. 

He added that the company’s monthly revenue run rate had doubled in the last 12 months and was showing a 10% month-on-month growth. 

“We are adding 30 million new users this year and the combination of platform growth and digital credit is leading to strong top line growth and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) positive business in the next six months,” Singh said.

Founded in 2009 by Singh and Upasana Taku, MobiKwik competes with Alibaba-backed Paytm and Flipkart’s payments vertical PhonePe. The company, which has raised more than $150 million till date, also counts American Express, Tree Line Asia, MediaTek, and Cisco Investments as its investors.

In its effort to become a financial services platform, the company launched digital insurance services on its app in November this year.

The company also recently acquired a number of firms. In October and June this year, it bought online wealth management platform Clearfunds and Pune-based data science company Pivotchain Solutions Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Earlier this month, it appointed former Delhivery executive Sushant Kashyap as the business head for its payment gateway and international business.