Sameer Nigam and Rahul Chari, two Flipkart alumni who envisioned seamless digital payments before UPI’s launch, founded PhonePe in 2015 to bridge India’s cash-heavy economy with mobile tech. Now a Walmart-backed powerhouse processing over 310 million daily UPI transactions and commanding 48% market share, PhonePe reported FY25 revenue of Rs 7,631 crore—up 40% year-over-year—while narrowing losses to Rs 1,727 crore, paving the way for a Rs 12,525 crore IPO at a $15 billion valuation by mid-2026, highlighting fintech’s role in driving financial inclusion for 600 million users in a nation where digital payments are expected to triple to $10 trillion by 2030.
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Tech Roots: From Flipkart Synergies to Startup Spark
Sameer Nigam, born in 1983 in New Delhi, grew up in a middle-class family and earned a B.Tech in Computer Science from the National Institute of Technology Kurukshetra. His early career included stints at Microsoft and Axis Bank, but it was as Senior Vice President of Engineering at Flipkart from 2013-15 that he honed his fintech acumen, building scalable payment systems. “I saw the potential in India’s mobile-first future—payments needed to be instant and inclusive,” Nigam reflected in a 2024 Analytics Insight interview.
Rahul Chari, born in 1986 in Mumbai, holds a B.E. in Computer Science from BITS Pilani (2008). Starting as a software engineer at Andiamo Systems after an internship at Sun Microsystems, he later joined Flipkart as a principal engineer, collaborating with Nigam on e-commerce infrastructure. Their shared Flipkart tenure—focusing on secure, user-friendly tech—ignited the idea for PhonePe. Together with Burzin Engineer (ex-Flipkart product manager), they incorporated the company in December 2015, leveraging Flipkart’s resources for an April 2016 acquisition that transferred its FxMart license, rebranded as the PhonePe wallet.
The trio’s vision: a simple UPI-based app for peer-to-peer transfers, launched in August 2016 amid demonetization’s cash crunch. “We built for the masses, not the elite—UPI was our equalizer,” Chari noted in a 2023 StartupTalky profile, emphasizing their focus on multilingual support across 11 Indian languages.
Early Traction: Riding Demonetization’s Wave
PhonePe’s Q&A-style interface and QR-code simplicity exploded post-demonetization, processing billions in transactions by 2017. Acquired by Flipkart for an undisclosed sum (estimated $10-15 million), it gained independence in 2022 after Walmart’s 77% Flipkart stake, with Nigam leading as CEO and Chari as CTO. The 2022 Singapore-to-India HQ shift enabled full UPI access, boosting volumes 5x.
From recharges and bill payments, PhonePe diversified into insurance (via PhonePe Insurance), lending (collaboration with ICICI Lombard), stockbroking (Share.Market), and travel bookings, reducing UPI dependency from 90% in FY24. “Diversification is our moat—payments fuel, but services sustain,” Nigam told Moneycontrol in 2025.
Funding and Financial Momentum
PhonePe raised $1.01 billion over three rounds from 29 investors, including Walmart ($350 million in 2023), General Atlantic, Ribbit Capital, Tiger Global, TVS Capital Funds, and Tencent. The latest $350 million from General Atlantic in 2023 valued it at $12 billion, up from $5.6 billion in 2021.
FY25 marked progress: consolidated revenue reached Rs 7,631 crore (up 40% from Rs 5,722 crore in FY24), with standalone at Rs 6,544 crore (33% growth). Adjusted PAT turned positive at Rs 197 crore, reversing a Rs 738 crore loss, driven by cost efficiencies and diversified streams. Employee expenses rose 14% to Rs 4,097 crore, including Rs 2,359 crore in share-based payments. Q2 FY26 previews suggest continued momentum, with UPI volumes at 8.93 billion transactions (Rs 12.20 trillion value) in July 2025 alone.
In Q2 FY26, PhonePe captured 45.88% volume share and 50.14% value share in UPI, processing 7.23 billion transactions worth Rs 10.33 trillion, per NPCI data.
PhonePe’s Financial Snapshot
| Fiscal Year | Revenue (Rs Crore) | Adjusted PAT (Rs Crore) | Key Milestone |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY24 | 5,722 | (738) | HQ shift to India; UPI dominance |
| FY25 | 7,631 | 197 | Profitability turnaround; 600M users |
Source: Ministry of Corporate Affairs filings cited in MediaNama and Economic Times.
IPO Horizons: Listing at $15 Billion
PhonePe filed confidentially for an IPO in September 2025, targeting mid-2026 listing on BSE/NSE to raise $1.5 billion (Rs 12,525 crore) via primary and secondary shares at a $15 billion valuation—a 25% jump from 2023. Advisors include Kotak Mahindra Capital, JP Morgan, Citi, and Morgan Stanley. The April 2025 conversion to PhonePe Limited (from Private) and 10:1 stock split in March paved the way.
“IPO timing aligns with our profitability—it’s about sustainable growth,” Nigam said in a June 2025 Caproasia report. Funds will fuel lending, insurance, and international expansion, hedging UPI risks like SEBI’s F&O curbs.
Impact and Legacy: Beyond Bills to Billionaire Builders
PhonePe’s 48% UPI share (310 million daily transactions) powers 40 million merchants, creating gig jobs and enabling $10 trillion annual digital flows. Nigam and Chari’s modest FY24 salaries (Rs 5 crore each, down from Rs 7 crore) reflect long-term focus, with ESOP values dropping 75% to Rs 226 crore amid valuation shifts. Their net worths hover at $200-300 million each (Rs 1,600-2,500 crore), per Planify estimates.
Challenges like the 2018 BharatPe trademark suit (resolved in PhonePe’s favor) and 2024 Karnataka job bill controversy (Nigam apologized) highlight regulatory navigation. Yet, their Flipkart-honed resilience shines—Chari’s AI experiments in fraud detection reduced support staff 60% while boosting transactions 40x.
PhonePe matters by onboarding 600 million users to formal finance, rivaling Paytm (7% share) and Google Pay (36%). As Chari noted at the 2025 Global AI Conclave, “We’re cautious with gen AI but transformative in non-core areas like insurance.” The duo’s journey—from Flipkart coders to IPO architects—proves vision scales with execution.
With $15 billion ambitions, PhonePe eyes full-year profitability in FY26. “We’re the people’s wallet—simple, secure, scalable,” Nigam affirmed in a 2025 Business Outreach profile. Their ledger balances innovation with inclusion, scripting fintech’s next scan.
Last Updated on Friday, October 17, 2025 6:51 pm by Siddhant Jain
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