Mobikwik looks to raise $100 million as it delays IPO plans, founder says the ‘markets are not ready’

• The company plans to use the fresh funding for marketing purposes, hiring people and acquiring new businesses.
• The fintech startup had raised $20 million last year, at a valuation of $700-$750 million.
• A company can go for an IPO within 12 months of receiving SEBI’s approval, which Mobikwik got last November.

Gurugram-based Mobikwik is in talks to raise $100 million as there has been a delay in its initial public offering (IPO) plans, the digital payments company’s founder and CEO Upasna Taku said.

Taku, in a conversation with Bloomberg, revealed that the company plans to use the fresh funding for marketing purposes, hiring people and acquiring new businesses. The company has not yet decided the valuation for the current funding round, she said.

The fintech startup had raised $20 million from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) in June last year, at a valuation of $700-$750 million. So far, the payment service has raised $176 million in funding, according to business insights platform Crunchbase.

The company counts American Express, Bajaj Finance, Cisco System, Sequoia Capital and Treeline Asia as investors, who will also be selling a part of their shareholdings in the IPO. The company intends to raise ₹1,900 crore through this IPO.

Taku confirmed that the company still plans to launch an IPO but at a more opportune time. In a previous conversation with Business Insider, Taku mentioned that the company still has till November 2022 to head for an IPO as they received Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) approval in November last year.

A company can go for an IPO within 12 months of receiving SEBI’s approval.

Unstable markets and lacklustre IPOs make Mobikwik jittery

Taku said the company is waiting for stable market conditions to go public.

“As you can see, they [markets] are fairly up and down and unstable. And not just in India but even globally. Now thanks to the Ukraine-Russia war cry, I think, aur he hone wala hai [the instability is likely to extend]. I don’t think it will be possible for any tech companies to IPO anytime soon, definitely not in the next couple of months,” Taku told Business Insider in February 2022.

However, an IPO is still on the cards, and Mobikwik is ready, she added.

“But it is definitely a target for us to get to the public markets. We have the SEBI approval, our numbers even for the December quarter are fantastic. We are ready. Business performance is strong, SEBI approval is there. But the markets are not ready so we have to make sure that we continue building the platform and wait for the right time,” she added.

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