Exclusive: Have only spent $100 million since inception, will list at right time: MobiKwik

Amidst ongoing speculations that payments start-up MobiKwik will delay its Initial Public Offering (IPO) and correct the issue price on the back of Paytm’s less-than-impressive debut on the bourses, the company has said that "it is going to go public at the right time.”

In an exclusive interaction with BusinessToday.In, MobiKwik said that there is no question of cancelling its IPO and that the price-band details will be announced as per SEBI's regulations. The statement comes after reports of two if its investors -- Eastspring Investments and Nomura -- having backed out from the public listing. There have also been questions on the rising losses suffered by the payments firm and its core business model -- that of mobile wallets -- having shrunk over the last several years, thereby putting its profitability under the scanner.

In response to a questionnaire, a MobiKwik spokesperson told Business Today that the company has only spent $100 million since its inception and that it is now pivoting from wallets to its Buy Now Pay Later business, which, according the company's spokesperson, is witnessing a huge traction.

“The company is focused on Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) for daily life payments and has the largest number of pre-approved BNPL users in India at 22.3 million (as of March 2021). It has always adopted a sustainable growth strategy. The company is witnessing strong business growth, has a clear path to profitability and will list at the right time,” MobiKwik said.

The fintech start-up has also denied rumours of any talks with corporations for a sell-out, adding that it is very much focused on the IPO.

MobiKwik, founded in 2009 by IIT graduate Bipin Preet Singh and his wife Upasana Taku, was one of the earliest digital payments firms to have filed for an IPO. In July, the payments company filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus with SEBI in order to raise Rs 1,900 crore ($255 million) at a $1 billion valuation. It included an offer for sale (OFS) of up to Rs 400 crore with Rs 1500 crore as primary issue, as per the company filings. The shareholders, who will participate in the OFS, include giants such as American Express, Bajaj Finance, MobiKwik's co-founders Singh and Taku, Sequoia Capital, Teeline Asia and Cisco Systems.

MobiKwik was valued at $700 million in the last financing round when it raised $20 million from the UAE-based Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

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