One billion dollars. MobiKwik is set to raise funds from investors including BlackRock Inc. which will value the innovative Indian Fintech company at about $1 billion, according to Bloomberg. Headquartered in Gurgaon, MobiKwik offers a mobile phone based payment system. Customers add money to an online wallet that can be used for payments such as mobile recharge, Dth recharge and electricity bill payments.
Just in case you missed the platform’s enviable growth, check out these articles, which include a recent FreeCharge merger. The company with over 55 million users has been in talks these last months to raise funding that would give the startup this $1 billion valuation, and has forged new ties with banks and offering new financial services on its growing platform, Currently MobiKwik investors include Sequoia Capital, Taiwan’s MediaTek, Japan’s GMO Venture Partners and hedge fund Tree Line Asia.
Founded in 2009 by husband and wife team Bipin Preet Singh, a 2002 graduate of IIT Delhi, and Upasana Taku Singh, MobiKwik is all set raise around $100 milion to become second unicorn after Alibaba-backed Paytm, the leading payments platform in India. Mobikwik is competing directly with One97 Communications Ltd.- owned Paytm, a platform which dominates the Indian market and reportedly in talks to raise as much as $1.4 billion from Softbank Group. MobiKwik is said to be raising more than $100 million from BlackRock and Indian state-run lenders including Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank.