PhonePe clears SEBI hurdle for India IPO amid buoyant markets
PhonePe clears SEBI hurdle for India IPO amid buoyant markets
Walmart-backed PhonePe wins SEBI approval for its India IPO as markets stay buoyant and backers eye stake-offloads.
PhonePe, the Walmart-backed digital payments firm, has cleared a key regulatory hurdle as SEBI approves its planned IPO. The Bengaluru-based company had confidentially filed its draft red herring prospectus with SEBI in September, and investors expect backers including Walmart, Microsoft and Tiger Global to offload part of their stake as part of the public offering.
The IPO landscape in India remains buoyant, with equity fundraising hitting a record high in 2025 and a steady pipeline of new listings, underscoring strong investor appetite for fintechs and tech platforms.
PhonePe commands over 45% market share by volume on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) network as of December 2025. It processed 9.8 billion of the 21.6 billion UPI transactions recorded in August. The firm has more than 600 million registered users and services nearly 50 million merchants, cementing its position as India’s top payments platform on UPI.
In its regulatory filing ahead of the IPO, PhonePe disclosed that its losses narrowed in the year ended March 2025 to 17.2 billion rupees, compared with a loss of 19.96 billion rupees in the year ended March 2024.
The listing would be closely watched as investors weigh growth, profitability and the broader market backdrop. The stake sale by major backers could unlock value while fueling further liquidity for the company and its investors.
