Initial public offering (IPO)-bound payment solutions provider Pine Labs on Friday said it has raised $150 million(about Rs 1,120 crore) in a fresh round of funding from Alpha Wave Ventures.
Alpha Wave Ventures is jointly managed by Abu Dhabi-based investment firm Chimera Capital Ltd and Alpha Wave Global (formerly Falcon Edge Capital), which made 28 investments (new and follow-ons) in India in 2021.
“We are happy to bring a marquee investor on board. Our Omni Channel strategy is showing strong revenue growth. We are also seeing strong growth in international markets,” said Amrish Rau, CEO at Pine Labs, in a statement.
Earlier in the day, the Economic Times reported that the said transaction could have valued the financial technology unicorn at around $5 billion.
In May 2021, the company raised tranche of $285 million from a clutch of reputed public market-focused cross-over funds, pushing its valuation to around $3 billion. In August 2021, Pine Labs roped in CRED founder Kunal Shah on its board.
In 2021, Pine Labs raised a total of $600 million from US-based asset management firm Fidelity, Blackrock and others, followed by a $100 million fundraise from US-based Invesco Developing Markets Fund.
Rajul Garg launched Pine Labs in 1998 but left the firm in 2003. Lokvir Kapoor, the company's current chairman, then took over the payments company. Before moving to its present business strategy, it concentrated on large-scale smart card-based payments and loyalty solutions for Indian metro enterprises.
The fintech major has also struck a few acquisitions in the recent past. Last week, it acquired out payments startup Qfix Infocomm, for an undisclosed amount.
Earlier this month, Mint reported that Pine Labs is in advanced negotiations to acquire API infrastructure company Setu. In the past Pine Labs has acquired Southeast Asia-based fintech platform Fave for $45 million (Rs 337 crore) in April 2021. In July 2020, Pine Labs made a strategic investment in Fave.
Pine Labs previously acquired QwikCilver in 2019 for which it raised capital from Actis Advisors.
