PhonePe will buy Wealthdesk for about USD 50 million and OpenQ for about USD 25 million, including debt, as reported by Bloomber.com.
Company officials stated that the founders and entire team of WealthDesk will work as part of the PhonePe group and both platforms will remain independent. Following the acquisition, OpenQ will play a role in building the funding ecosystem for the PhonePe Group.
Wealthdesk, founded in 2016, allows clients to invest in stocks and exchange traded funds. OpenQ also provides trading baskets and investment analysis services to retail and institutional investors. The acquisitions will help PhonePe expand its offerings in a payments market where tech giants including Alphabet Inc’s Google, Amazon.com Inc, and SoftBank Group Corp-backed Paytm compete.
Amazon made its first investment in India’s wealth management sector last year as it participated in a USD 40 million round by fintech startup Smallcase Technologies. Google has partnered with Indian banks to offer consumer loans online.
Founded in 2015 and led by Sameer Nigam, PhonePe was partially demerged from Flipkart in 2020. The ecommerce giant owns about 87% stake in PhonePe, while Walmart owns about 10%.
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