PhonePe plans to list IPO in April 2026

Walmart-backed PhonePe plans to list its IPO in April, aiming to expand its presence in India’s digital payments and financial services markets.

The company’s draft papers indicate that digital payments will remain its primary growth driver, supported by efforts to increase its user base and platform scale.

The IPO will involve the sale of 5.06 crore shares by Walmart, Microsoft, and Tiger Global, with no new shares issued.

PhonePe received regulatory approval from Sebi in January after filing confidentially in September.

The company plans to deepen penetration across smartphones and feature phones, targeting an increase in active users, which stood at over 29 crore as of March 2025.

It also aims to expand digital payment adoption among merchants, where penetration remains below global levels.

PhonePe’s revenue grew 40% year-on-year to 7,115 crore rupee (US$785 million in FY25.

🔗 Source: YourStory

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Despite revenue growth, PhonePe is unprofitable and this IPO will not fund it

The IPO is a pure Offer for Sale, so PhonePe will not get any of the proceeds 1.
The listing lets current owners cash out, including the promoter selling shareholder WM Digital Commerce Holdings Pte. Ltd. (a Walmart entity), plus Microsoft Global Finance Unlimited Company and Tiger Global PIP 9-1 Ltd., through share sales 2.
Revenue rose 40% year on year. The business still ran at a loss of ₹1,444.42 crore in the six months ended September 30, 2025 2.
The loss grew from ₹1,203.20 crore in the same period a year earlier 2.

Regulation could limit PhonePe’s UPI-led growth and affect its path to profitability

PhonePe’s size on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) brings risk. It held 46.85% of UPI transaction volume as of September 30, 2025 3. That sits above the 30% market share cap framework proposed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the body that operates UPI, for third-party app providers (TPAPs) 3.
The deadline moved to December 31, 2026. After enforcement, a TPAP that breaks the cap could face limits on adding new UPI users, which could slow momentum 3.
Expansion into lending and insurance can spread risk. Policy changes can still hit those lines.
PhonePe ended rent and related payment services in September 2025. It also dropped support for real money gaming apps in August 2025 3. In FY25, those segments brought in ₹1,262.27 crore and ₹244.90 crore, respectively 3.