Indian fintech platform PhonePe has raised $350 million in a funding round led by New York-based private equity platform General Atlantic. PhonePe achieved a $12 billion post-investment valuation with this latest deal. According to a Moneycontrol report, it has now become the most-valued fintech company in India.  

The company was in talks with the investor to get the deal for months. 

The start-up will utilise the money for infrastructural advancements. It will develop its data centres and scale its financial service offerings in the country. 

The company has stepped into India's decacorn club after the latest deal. Indian start-ups that have more than $10 billion valuation are known as decacorns. Apart from PhonePe, Flipkart, Paytm, Byju's and Swiggy are the members. 

The funds came at a time for PhonePe, when start-ups are witnessing a 'funding winter.’ They are struggling to generate funds at a proper valuation. Multiple start-ups are either generating capital at a low valuation or moving to debt fundraising to avoid a slash in expected valuation. 

For instance, Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led Paytm, a competitor of PhonePe, witnessed a 60 per cent drop in valuation since its initial public offering (IPO) in November 2021. 

Recently, PhonePe has been re-domiciled in India. As per sources, it moved to its new office in Bengaluru from Singapore in October 2022. 

The development came at a time when Indian start-ups were seen moving their offices to Singapore to ease taxation. According to a report by India Briefing, nearly 8,000 start-ups have moved their offices to Singapore since 2000. Hence, the decision by the Indian fintech can be considered an 'unusual' one. Speculations are arising that PhonePe is planning to be listed in the Indian stock market in the coming time. 

In 2016, the fintech firm was acquired by Flipkart. Last year, both companies got separated.