PhonePe pauses $1.3 billion IPO amid market conditions
Business
PhonePe, the Walmart-backed payments app, is pressing pause on its much-hyped IPO.
It hoped to raise $1.3 billion, but investor interest valued the company at only about $7 billion, lower than it had wanted.
CEO Sameer Nigam says he is still hopeful for a future listing in India once things settle down.
PhonePe's financial strain and competition challenges
Global market jitters, especially from tensions in West Asia, and some new rules around rental payments have made investors more cautious and slowed PhonePe's revenue growth.
On top of that, PhonePe is feeling financial strain from high employee stock costs (a whopping 64%, compared to Paytm's 2.3%), all while competing with big players like Paytm and Pine Labs.