Mobikwik, an online payments platform which is competing against Paytm, recently raised ₹225 crore in a debt funding round from Bajaj Finance. Now, as per the reports, the company is looking to raise another funding round of around ₹450 crore.
While the company is looking to raise the amount by the end of December this year, reports suggests that a partial funding for the round may come somewhere around this week.
It is not yet clear if the investment of around ₹225 crore from Bajaj Finance was a part of this funding round or was it a separate funding.
The additional amount which is expected to come by the end of this week could come from a venture capital firm. A spokesperson of the company said, “In series D, this was the first tranche and we are in line towards our goal of achieving over $100 million by this year.”
Bajaj Finance has entered into a shareholders agreement which would become effective on conclusion of the transaction. Post conversion of CCPS, Bajaj Finance would hold approximately 10.83% of equity in MobiKwik on a fully diluted basis, approximately valuing it over Rs 2,000 crore.
MobiKwik was founded in 2009 by Bipin Preet Singh and Upasana Taku as an online platform for recharging and paying bills for mobiles and satellite TV connections. In 2013, it received a licence from RBI to launch its own digital wallet.
So far, the startup has raised around Rs 509 crore ($80 million) from investors including Sequoia Capital, American Express, Tree Line Asia, Cisco Investment, and Mediatek.
Going forward, MobiKwik plans to lend money and provide insurance to its users, including merchants, as it seeks to “become a one-stop shop for all financial solutions”. It is looking to begin with the auto insurance and cashless mediclaim segments.
The company’s fund raising plans surfaced after the acquisition of its competitor FreeCharge by Axis Bank for a sum of ₹385 crore. It now competes with Paytm, which recently raised a massive ₹9,000 crore funding round, led by SoftBank.