Walmart-backed digital payments platform PhonePe will acquire two wealth management startups WealthDesk and OpenQ for $75 millions in total.
Walmart Acquire WealthDesk and OpenQ
According to a reports by Bloomberg, PhonePe will acquire WealthDesk for around $50 million, while OpenQ will be purchased for $25 million. (Walmart)
Under the deal, WealthDesk founder Ujjwal Jain and teams will join the PhonePe groups. However, the two platforms will continue to function independently. Furthermore, Jain will continue to lead WealthDesk and the startups (WealthDesk) will continue to function as an open platform for all user.
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According to the statement, the acquisition of OpenQ is subject to regulatory approvals. Furthermore, according to the statement, after finalizing the deals, OpenQ will significantly help create a rich ecosystem for the PhonePe group.
The latest development comes after PhonePe raised some $297 million from its Singapore-based parent entity. On 23 March and 24 this year, PhonePe passed two resolution to allocate a total of 2.5 million equity share to PhonePe Singapore to raise money.
Founded in 2016, Mumbai-based WealthDesk is an online wealth management platform that develops the Unified Wealth Interface (UWI) for the wealth and asset management ecosystem. The interface is developed through the Embedded WealthDesk Gateway (EWG) and allows investors to invest on mobile apps and websites through their brokerage accounts.
- Walmart Under the deal, WealthDesk founder Ujjwal Jain and team will join the PhonePe group. However, boths platform will continues to functions independently.
- The OpenQ acquisition is currently subject to regulatory approval. Following the deals, OpenQ will significantly help create a rich ecosystem for the PhonePe group.
- With the acquisition of these two startup, PhonePe follows in the footsteps of Amazon and Google.
It claims to have more than 50 partner working in all categories. It is looking to grow further by integrating with more partner.
In June 2022, WealthDesk closed its Pre-Series A funding round at $3.2Mn. The second tranche of the round was raised by former partner and co-head of Blackstone India, Mathew cyriac, in his personal capacity, while the first tranche was raised by individual investor, including senior leader of global bank, market participants and other major corporations. in January of last year.
Founded in 2018 by Ujjawal Jain and Sujit Modi, Mumbai-based OpenQ is an online wealth management platform offering factor-based stocks indices, thematic investment product, trading baskets, asset allocation and services. of investment analysis for institutional and retail investor.
By acquiring these two new companies, PhonePe follows in the footsteps of Amazon and Google. While Amazon participated in fintech startups smallcase Technologies’ $40 million funding round, on the other hand, Google has partnered with major Indian bank to offer online loans to consumers.
According to a report, India is projected to become the fourth largest private wealth markets in the world by 2028. The country’s private wealth market will touch INR 95 Tn $1.26 Tn, while investor accounts they will grow more than 3 time to reach 130 Mn by 2025.
Another report from Invest India states that the Indian investment technology market is estimated to touch over $60 billions by fy25, from its current market size of $20 billion. Currently, India has the highest fintech adoption rate at 87% against a global average of 64%.
