Peak XV-backed MobiKwik aims to raise $84M

MobiKwik, the Indian financial services startup, is planning to raise approximately $84.2M by issuing new shares in an imminent initial public offering (IPO) on the home market; a move revealed in a draft prospectus submitted to the local markets regulator this Friday.

• IPO Round Two: This isn't MobiKwik's first brush with an IPO. The startup had previously filed IPO paperwork, with aims to raise around $250M through the sale of new and existing shares in 2021. However, due to unfavorable market conditions, the plans were delayed.

• Pre-IPO Raise: MobiKwik's founders, Bipin Singh and Upasana Taku, have confirmed that no existing shares will be offered in the IPO. However, the startup does intend to raise about $16M in a pre-IPO round.

• Product Offering: The startup, which boasts over 146 million registered users and 3.8M merchant partners, began its journey as a mobile wallet provider but has since expanded its portfolio. It now offers a plethora of financial services including digital payments, credit, investment, insurance, and features like "buy-now-pay-later" credit.

• 2023 Wins: MobiKwik's financial performance shows promising growth. Its Zip buy-now-pay-later product witnessed credit disbursals of $490M in fiscal 2023, witnessing a remarkable 21x increase from two years prior. Their total transaction value also more than doubled from $1.78B in fiscal 2021 to $3.15B in fiscal 2023.

Through this IPO, MobiKwik aims to harness its extensive user base and merchant network to cross-sell more financial products. The move places MobiKwik amongst the ranks of other Indian startups like Ola Electric and FirstCry, who also filed their draft prospectus for their initial public offerings last month.