PhonePe's loss drops marginally to Rs 1,728 crore in FY21

Digital payments firm PhonePe’s consolidated loss has fallen marginally to Rs 1,728 crore in FY21, the latest filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) showed. Its consolidated loss in FY20 was Rs 1,771.6 crore.

Revenue from operations was Rs 690 crore in FY21, from Rs 371.7 crore in the previous fiscal year.

Total employee expenses ballooned to Rs 1,235 crore in FY21 from Rs 480 crore in FY20.


Founded in 2015 by former Flipkart executives Sameer Nigam, Rahul Chari and Burzin Engineer, PhonePe was acquired by Flipkart in 2016.

In 2018, US retail behemoth Walmart acquired Flipkart, with PhonePe being part of the transaction.

In December 2020, the company raised $700 million led by promoters Flipkart and Walmart at a valuation of $5.5 billion.

With the funding, the fintech firm also said that it was being spun off from the Flipkart Group.

Following the transaction, Flipkart continued to hold 87% in the company, with Walmart owing 10% stake, and existing investors including New York-based investor Tiger Global Management keeping the rest.

The Singapore unit of PhonePe had also raised $66.5 million (about Rs 500 crore) in a funding round led by Chinese tech company Tencent Holdings Ltd and participation from Tiger Global, concluding its $700 million fundraise in August 2021.

PhonePe is planning to increase its workforce to 5,200 by the end of December 2022 as part of its expansion strategy.