Trifecta Capital, NDTV invest in digital payments platform MobiKwik

MobiKwik, the digital payments platform owned by Gurugram-based One MobiKwik Systems Private Limited, has raised $1.27 million (Rs 8.74 crore at current exchange rates) in a fresh funding round from broadcast major NDTV (New Delhi Television Limited) and venture debt firm Trifecta Capital.

According to the company’s latest filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), NDTV put in $837,609 (Rs 5.74 crore) and the remainder came from Trifecta. The company raised this sum by issuing compulsorily convertible preferential shares earlier this month.

By TechCircle’s estimates, the latest fund infusion puts the company’s valuation at around $293.16 million (Rs 2009.12 crore).

Email queries sent to MobiKwik seeking more information on the funding round round did not elicit responses at the time of publishing this report.

In December last, the company had raised Rs 24 crore ($3.38 million) in a fresh round of funding led by existing investor Sequoia Capital India. Other existing investors who participated in the round included South African payment solutions and transaction processing company Net 1 UEPS Technologies Inc and Japan’s GMO Payment Gateway.

MobiKwik, founded in 2009 by Upasana Taku and CEO Bipin Preet Singh, offers a full stack of financial services that include a digital wallet, lending, insurance, investments in mutual funds, gold and payment gateway. The company claims to have 107 million users and 3 million merchants.

Last month, the company claimed that it had clocked the highest number of Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) transactions among digital payment companies for the month of May. It added that it had processed IMPS transactions worth Rs 362 crore, accounting for a 26% share in this category among digital companies.

Digital payment firms such as Paytm and Mobikwik offer a wallet-to-bank feature that allows users to instantly transfer money to any bank account through the digital wallet.

In May, MobiKwik said that its gross revenues rose 116% to Rs 184.6 crore for the financial year 2018-19, from Rs 85.6 crore the previous year. The company disclosed these figures as part of its unaudited financial results. Chief operating officer Taku , at the time of the announcement, had claimed that the company would swing to operating profits by the end of 2019.