Jan 24, 2023
By: BI India BureauWalmart-backed payments firm PhonePe recently raised $350 million from private equity firm General Atlantic at a $12 billion valuation and entered the decacorn club. This was the first tranche of a billion dollar funding round.
Credit: Paytm
Decacorn is a term used for companies valued at $10 billion or more while startup companies valued at $1 billion or more are termed as Unicorns.
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Post the fund raising, PhonePe joins an elite list of decacorn companies in India. According to data compiled by Tracxn Technologies, India now has four decacorns – Flipkart, Byju’s, PhonePe and Swiggy.
Credit: Paytm
The e-commerce giant became a decacorn nearly a decade back in 2014 when it raised $700 million at a valuation of more than $10 billion. Currently, it is valued at nearly $40 billion.
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The American retail chain now has two Indian decacorns in its portfolio – Flipkart and PhonePe. Walmart acquired Flipkart in 2018, when PhonePe was part of the latter. PhonePe separated from Flipkart in December 2022, with Walmart continuing to be a majority stakeholder in both entities.
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India’s largest edtech startup Byju's became a decacorn in June 2020 after a funding round led by Silicon Valley venture capitalist Mary Meeker’s Bond Capital. At the time, it became the second most valuable startup in India, after payments platform Paytm.
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Bengaluru-based food delivery giant Swiggy became a decacorn in January 2022 after raising $700 million in an Invesco-led funding round.
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Fintech firm One 97 Communications (Paytm) gained prominence after demonetisation in 2016 and became the biggest player in digital payments.
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It became a decacorn in 2018 and was valued at almost $20 billion ahead of its listing in 2021. However, it has lost over three-fourths of its value since going public.
Credit: Paytm