Digital payments platform MobiKwik has become a unicorn, weeks ahead of its IPO. According to sources, the company’s valuation touched $1 billion after a secondary sale of employee shares under the Employee Stock Options (ESOP) plan. As per market sources, the fintech startup is expected to be listed on the stock exchange at a valuation of $1.5-1.7 billion.

“Several MobiKwik employees exercised their ESOPs in a recently opened ESOP window by selling part of their shares in a secondary sale. The secondary round was led by ex-Blackstone India Head, Mathew Cyriac, who topped up his holding at almost double the previous price,” sources said.  

MobiKwik has seen a steep increase in valuation since its last funding round (Series G) in June when it had raised $20 million (Rs 150 crore) from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) at a valuation of over $700 million. The Series G round came just months after it had raised $5 million from a slew of investors. 

MobiKwik has stated in its SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) filing that it intends to raise Rs 1,900 crore ($255 million) during its IPO, consisting of a Rs 1500-crore primary issue of shares and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of up to Rs 400 crore. The shareholders expected to participate in the OFS include Sequoia Capital, Cisco Systems, American Express, Bajaj Finance co-founders, Mobikwik co-founders, and Teeline Asia.  

According to reports, Mobikwik handles over one million daily transactions across its network, including its UPI and bill payment services besides its digital wallet. The company claims to have over three million merchants on its network, serving over 107 million users. 

In April this year, MobiKwik was directed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to conduct a forensic audit after allegations of data breach against the company. Independent cybersecurity researchers had alleged that a database containing KYC (know your customer) details of nearly 3.5 million MobiKwik users was up for sale on the dark web.