SEBI Clears Walmart-Backed PhonePe for India IPO: Sources

• PhonePe commands over 45% market share of India's unified payments interface (UPI) with more than 600 million registered users and nearly 50 million merchant partners
• The company's losses narrowed to 17.2 billion rupees for the year ended March 2025, down from 19.96 billion rupees in the prior year
• Founded in 2015, PhonePe is India's leading payments platform and joins a buoyant IPO market amid record fundraising activity

Summary: SEBI Clears Walmart-Backed PhonePe for India IPO

Key Development:

India's market regulator SEBI has approved PhonePe's IPO application after the company confidentially filed in September 2024. The Walmart-backed digital payments firm is now cleared to proceed with its stock market listing.

Company Profile:

• Founded in 2015, PhonePe is India's leading payments platform on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI)
• Commands over 45% market share in the UPI ecosystem
• Serves 600+ million registered users
• Supports nearly 50 million merchants

Financial Performance:

PhonePe reported narrowing losses in fiscal year ending March 2025:

• FY2025 loss: 17.2 billion rupees
• FY2024 loss: 19.96 billion rupees
• Shows improvement of approximately 2.76 billion rupees year-over-year

Stakeholders:

Major investors including Walmart, Microsoft, and Tiger Global are expected to offload portions of their stakes in the offering.

Market Context:

The IPO comes during a robust period for Indian primary markets, with fundraising hitting record highs in 2025, providing favorable conditions for the listing.

Sector Implications:

PhonePe's IPO will be a significant test for India's fintech sector and could set valuation benchmarks for digital payments companies. The listing will provide public market investors exposure to India's rapidly growing digital payments ecosystem, where UPI has become the dominant transaction method. The offering may also influence pricing and timing decisions for competitors, including rival Paytm, which was also featured in the article's accompanying image.