Pine Labs’ valuation tops $2 bn on closing funding from Lone Pine Capital

Unicorn fintech business Pine Labs has elevated an undisclosed funding round led by billionaire hedge fund supervisor Stephen Mandel-founded Lone Pine Funds, taking the valuation of the Noida-based business to in excess of $two billion. This makes it the most valued fintech business in the country following Paytm and Walmart-owned PhonePe. The business did not expose the amount of money it has elevated from Lone Pine, but in accordance to business resources, the funding is about $seventy five-one hundred million. US-based Lone Pine’s investment follows the strategic investment built by Mastercard in January 2020, when Pine Labs attained unicorn standing or $1 billion valuation.

“We are thrilled to welcome Lone Pine as an investor all through this interesting and transformative stage of Pine Labs’ progress journey,” stated B Amrish Rau, CEO, Pine Labs.

Tiny firms and customers are quick adopting to electronic commerce and contactless checkout. Pine Labs is also viewing remarkable uptake in Pay back Afterwards expert services and has now enabled practically one hundred fifty,000 stores for this. “It’s time to make investments greatly in offline and on the net commerce throughout India and SEA (Southeast Asia),” stated Rau.

Rau, who joined Pine Labs as CEO early this calendar year, brings two a long time of practical experience in facts technologies, finance and fintech. His start-up Citrus Pay back, which was funded by Sequoia India, was obtained by PayU in 2016 in just one of the major fintech acquisitions.

Mala Gaonkar, Portfolio Supervisor and Running Director at Lone Pine, stated that the Pine Labs staff is leveraging important structural alterations taking place throughout payments and fintech globally. This consists of integration of software program and payments at the point-of-sale and the digitisation of modest-to-medium enterprises. Also, there is immediate adoption of invest in-now-pay out-later on offerings.

“We are enthusiastic to partner with Pine Labs as they innovate at scale in the payments and service provider commerce space, benefiting customers, retailers and financial institutions,” stated Gaonkar. “We appear ahead to the road in advance.”

Earlier in December, Pine Labs and Mastercard jointly announced that they will broaden their integrated “pay later” option to 5 South-East Asian markets early following calendar year.

From its beginnings as an offline retail payment provider a 10 years in the past, Pine Labs has progressed into featuring payment acceptance technologies, saved value solutions, in-retail store consumer credit rating and other service provider answers in India, Southeast Asia and the Center East.

Right now, Pine Labs serves more than one hundred fifty,000 retailers in 3,seven hundred metropolitan areas throughout Asia and the Center East. This calendar year Pine Labs built an investment and formed a strategic partnership with Malaysia-based business Fave, which offers QR payments and loyalty cashback to dining establishments and retailers.

Almost fifty,000 of Fave’s and Pine Labs’ retailers in Southeast Asia will benefit quickly from the partnership.

Pine Labs competes with other quick-growing fintech firms these types of as BharatPe, Mswipe, Paytm and Razorpay. Delhi-based BharatPe, which offers payment technologies and electronic lending for offline firms, which include kiranas, is viewing a three-fold progress in transaction value and two-fold progress in volumes amid the pandemic. The business is already clocking an annualised transaction value of $8 billion, of which $six billion is QR (speedy reaction) code and $two billion Swipe small business.

Newly-formed fintech unicorn Razorpay is also betting massive on encouraging modest firms digitise. The Bengaluru-based business is launching a string of solutions, from insurance to vernacular language guidance, aimed at empowering the following stage of electronic progress for modest firms in India. The business designs to realize $fifty billion TPV (whole payment volume) by the conclusion of 2021.

The electronic payments space in India is expected to increase 5-fold to reach $1 trillion by 2023, and would be led by progress in mobile payments, in accordance to a report by financial expert services business Credit score Suisse.

Highlights:

. Pine Labs crosses $two billion valuation, following funding round from Lone Pine.

. Funding is about $seventy five million-$one hundred million, in accordance to business resources.

. This makes it the most valued fintech business in the country guiding Paytm and PhonePe.

. New funding follows an investment built by Mastercard this calendar year when Pine Labs turned a unicorn.

. Digital payments space in India is expected to increase fivefold to reach $1 trillion by 2023.