Mobikwik, an India-based mobile payment platform backed by several corporate investors, has entered talks to raise new funding at a $1bn valuation, founder and CEO Bipin Preet Singh told Reuters on Wednesday.
Singh did not disclose the identity of the prospective investors nor how much Mobikwik is looking to raise, but said the round would likely close in a month or two’s time.
Founded in 2009, Mobikwik has developed a mobile wallet app that now has more than 45 million users. However, the company is looking to add new features so it can grow into a more expansive financial services provider.
Singh told Reuters: “Some of the things that are going to happen over the next two to three months will actually lead to MobiKwik being the default payments partner for a lot of people and they already see us as a natural ally.
“I see a future where within the app you can avail yourself of many different financial services in addition to making payments. Many of those will be far more profitable compared to payments alone.”
Mobikwik has so far raised about $120m in funding, most recently closing a $40m investment by payment technology provider Net1 in August 2016.
Payment services firm American Express and Cisco Investments, the corporate venturing subsidiary of networking equipment maker Cisco, invested in Mobikwik as part of a $25m series B round in 2015 that included Sequoia Capital and Tree Line Asia.
Sequoia and Tree Line subsequently returned for a $50m series C round co-led by fabless semiconductor provider MediaTek and GMO Global Payment Fund, a specialised investment branch of internet company GMO, in April 2016.