After Postponed IPO, India’s Mobikwik Seeks $100M in Funding

Indian digital wallet and payments startup Mobikwik is in talks to raise up to $100 million in equity to help it expand following the postponement of its initial public offering (IPO).

That’s according to a Wednesday (June 8) report from Bloomberg News, which said the company will use the funds to invest in marketing, hire staff and make acquisitions, co-founder Upasana Taku said in an interview in Mumbai.

Read more: MobiKwik Moving Forward with Indian IPO

She added that Mobikwik still plans to move ahead with the IPO when the time is right. As PYMNTS reported in October of last year, the company had been ready to go public after getting the approval of the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the country’s market regulator.

However, Mobikwik then decided to put the IPO on hold after its rival Paytm saw its shares plummet in the wake of going public.

See also: Paytm Sees Bigger Losses as It Reels From IPO Fallout

With American Express and Sequoia Capital among its backers, Mobikwik is one of the largest companies  offering buy now, pay later (BNPL) services in India, with more than 100 million registered users.

Although the company was valued at about $700 million last year when it raised funds from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Taku said no decision has been made on the valuation for the current funding round.

Learn more: IPO Value Plunges 90% in 2022 in US, Europe

The company is raising money at a time when IPOs are losing value around the world. As PYMNTS reported recently, IPOs in the U.S. and Europe have dropped 90% in value so far this year — a 71% drop worldwide — thanks to factors such as the Ukrainian-Russian war and rising inflation.

Many businesses have been forced to put off their plans to go public. In the first five months of 2022, just 157 companies had raised $17.9 million, compared to the $192 million raised by 628 businesses in the first five months of last year. Last year’s first three quarters had been the busiest period ever for listings, with companies scrambling to go public after the pandemic’s most dangerous parts appeared to be over.