Payment solutions provider Pine Labs Pvt Ltd, which is headed for a US listing, said on Tuesday it has raised an additional $20 million (around Rs 150 crore) in new investment from the State Bank of India (SBI).
Pine Labs said it will invest the new funds in scaling Plural, its newly launched brand of online payment products, and aims to become an omnichannel partner of choice for merchants.
“We are thrilled to have the largest bank of India, the State Bank of India, place their trust in us and welcome them in this journey where we are empowering merchants with seamless and secure payment experiences across offline and online platforms. In the last year, several marquee investors have placed their trust in our business model and growth momentum and that is a gratifying feeling. This association with SBI is a personally satisfying experience as I had started my career selling financial services technology to SBI,” B. Amrish Rau, CEO of Pine Labs said.
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.
Pine Labs recently announced that its buy now pay later (BNPL) service will expand across India and Southeast Asia. Its other investors include Sequoia Capital, Temasek Holdings, Actis, PayPal and Mastercard.
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.
In May 2021, the company raised tranche of $285 million from a clutch of reputed public market-focused cross-over funds, bringing its valuation to around $3 billion then. In August 2021, Pine Labs roped in CRED founder Kunal Shah on its board.
The company has also made acquisitions in the past. It 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.
