Tiger Global and Microsoft are set to fully divest their stakes in PhonePe, the prominent Indian payments startup backed by Walmart, as the company prepares for its initial public offering (IPO). This significant liquidity event, detailed in PhonePe's recently updated IPO filing, provides a rare look at how global investors are cashing out of India's booming venture market through its public exchanges.
The updated IPO prospectus, released on Wednesday, outlines the specifics of the share sale. Both Tiger Global and Microsoft are offering their entire holdings in PhonePe. Meanwhile, Walmart, which holds a majority stake, plans to retain its dominant position while selling up to 45.9 million shares, representing approximately 9% of the company. In total, up to 50.66 million shares are available for purchase, marking a major opportunity for existing shareholders to realize returns.
PhonePe was valued at around $12 billion during a funding round in January 2023. However, sources familiar with the matter indicate the company is targeting a market capitalization of approximately $15 billion in the IPO, aiming to raise up to $1.5 billion. The prospectus clarifies that this share sale is driven by existing investors, with no founder sell-downs included, indicating a strategic move by early backers rather than the company's management.
Founded in 2015 by Sameer Nigam, Rahul Chari, and Burzin Engineer, PhonePe was acquired by e-commerce giant Flipkart just a year later. It has since grown into one of India's most successful fintech companies. The company initially focused on digital payments but has significantly expanded its offerings to include stockbroking, mutual fund investments, and even an Android app store designed as an alternative to the Google Play Store. PhonePe was partially spun off from Flipkart in December 2020, with their complete separation finalized in December 2022, leaving Walmart as PhonePe's dominant shareholder.
PhonePe holds a leading position in India's competitive digital payments market. It dominates the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) ecosystem in terms of transaction volumes, consistently staying ahead of rivals like Google Pay. According to the latest NPCI data, PhonePe processed approximately 9.81 billion transactions in December 2025, totaling roughly ₹13.6 trillion (about $148.6 billion). In comparison, Google Pay recorded 7.50 billion transactions worth about ₹9.6 trillion (around $104.5 billion) during the same period.
Financially, PhonePe reported a 22% increase in revenue from operations for the six months ending September 2025, reaching ₹39.19 billion (approximately $427.79 million) compared to the previous year. However, its losses also widened during this period, growing to ₹14.44 billion (around $157.70 million) from ₹12.03 billion (about $131.34 million), as detailed in the prospectus.
