Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by MobiKwik
Using a Mobile Wallet has now turned out to be a habit of many. Easy hassle-free payment and no worries about hunting for change every time you purchase something probably is a major benefit of using a mobile wallet. While today many international players are providing mobile wallet services in India, MobiKwik is one of the pioneer Indian mobile wallet companies, that despite much competition has carved a niche for itself.
MobiKwik's valuation is estimated at $414 million (as of March 2020 funding round)
This write-up is all about the journey and functioning of this successful Indian startup - MobiKwik, which was started with the sole goal of making payments very easy and fun for every Indian.
MobiKwik - Company Highlights
| Startup Name | MobiKwik |
|---|---|
| Headquarter | Gurgaon |
| Origin Country | India |
| Sector | Digital Wallet, Fintech |
| Founders | Bipin Preet Singh & Upasana Taku |
| Founded | 2009 |
| Revenue | Rs. 379 crore (FY20) |
| Valuation | $414 million (as of March 2020 funding round) |
| Parent Organization | One MobiKwik Systems Private Limited |
| Website | mobikwik.com |
MobiKwik Latest News
What is MobiKwik and How it Works?
Mobikwik took down from Play Store
Founders of MobiKwik and team
How was MobiKwik Started
MobiKwik - Business Model and Revenue Model
MobiKwik - Awards
MobiKwik - Funding and Investors
MobiKwik - Partnership and Tie-ups
MobiKwik - Competitors
MobiKwik - Growth and Revenue
MobiKwik - FAQs
StartupTalky
MobiKwik Latest News
March 30, 2021 - Being the biggest data leak in Indian history, independent cybersecurity researchers have found that the personal data of over 10 crore customers of MobiKwik is available for sale on the dark web (Source: The Economic Times). However, MobiKwik is denying the alleged data leak and is intended to get a third party to conduct a forensic data security audit to provide clarity on the matter.
The MobiKwik leak is real. Here is what the dump had for me. One of those credit cards was valid until a couple weeks ago, and I don't recall authorising MobiKwik to save it. Companies that lie like 👇 ought to be taken to the cleaners. https://t.co/sptyC1Jz8f pic.twitter.com/c4Uu25OviP
— Kiran Jonnalagadda (@jackerhack) March 29, 2021
What is Mobikwik and How it Works?
To make personal wallets redundant, MobiKwik is one of the largest mobile wallets in India. It allows Indian consumers to store money in a virtual wallet and then to use it across channels (mobile, desktop, tab, SMS, IVR) to pay utility bills and shop using a wallet with registered merchants.
For example, as a user, you could use it to recharge your mobile via its Android/iOS/BB/Windows App, or use it to buy bus tickets on any popular bus booking website or order and pay for pizza on the phone. It is a prepaid financial instrument approved by the Reserve Bank of India.
MobiKwik was founded by Bipin Preet Singh and Upasana Taku in 2009. The Gurugram-based digital wallet claims to have over 107 million users, 3 million merchants, and 200+ billers on its platform.
MobiKwik is super-safe. Every penny stored in your wallet is well accounted for. You can also use the extra in-app security settings available on all mobile platforms it is operational on. These are Android, Windows, and iOS. All services of the app are also available via a desktop site and a mobile site. Besides, its simple UI is designed to give users a smooth experience.
MobiKwik ventured out in the offline space and activated mobile payments for brick-and-mortar stores such as Big Bazaar and Domino’s Pizza and many more. It received the coveted Prepaid Payment Instrument license from the Reserve Bank of India on 18 July 2013. The company has also received in-principle approval from the RBI to set up a Bharat Bill Payments Operating Unit (BBPOU), thereby enabling users from across all parts of India, urban and rural, to pay their utility and convenience bills through the MobiKwik wallet.
The initial service provided by the startup was a website with a closed wallet facility, but over the years, MobiKwik extended its service to mobile apps. Today it has transformed itself into a full-stack fintech company. One can do bank transfers, and can also take loans. The company has tie-ups with NBFCs like Bajaj Finance, Aditya Birla, and DMI Finance.
As for loans, it has many options like an instant 3-minute loan, a credit line, and a term loan. It has also tied up with ICICI Lombard for accidental insurance, and also offers several other insurance products like Online fraud protection, dengue insurance, hospital cash, etc to name a few.
MobiKwik took down from Google Play Store
UPI payment and wallet platform MobiKwik was taken down from Play Store on May 28 for violating Google's ad policies. The app was restored after a few hours after the contentious ad was removed. MobiKwik owner and CEO Bipin Preet Singh said in a tweet that it was done because the app had an ad linking to the Aarogya Setu app.
Hey @GoogleIndia @GooglePlay you removed @MobiKwik app from play store because we had a link to Aarogya Setu app. We were asked to do this by regulators ( @RBI ) and understand it’s in public health interest. You have too much power ! Cc @CCI_India @amitabhk87 @PMOIndia @rsprasad pic.twitter.com/ftv5KIZCAy
— Bipin Preet Singh (@BipinSingh) May 28, 2020
Mobikwik had the ad as they were asked to by the regulator Reserve Bank of India and also as it’s in public health interest, Singh said.
Singh said that a week ago Google had warned them for promoting Aarogya Setu app on its platform and termed it as deceptive. However, when they contacted Google, they said it was a mistake.
Founders of MobiKwik and team
Bipin Preet Singh and Upasana Taku are the founders of MobiKwik.
Bipin Preet Singh - Founder and CEO at MobiKwik, Bipin has worn several hats – from writing Java code to Customer Support and Marketing. He graduated from IIT Delhi in 2002 with a degree in electrical engineering. After graduation, he worked at Intel, Nvidia and Freescale Semiconductors for 7 years before starting up. He has dabbled in advertising as a Partner with Star Auto and in civic advocacy as a volunteer with Janagraaha.
Upasana Taku - Upasana, MobiKwik owner, comes with a strong payment background as a senior product manager with PayPal (an eBay company) in Silicon Valley and before that with HSBC at San Diego. She graduated with a Bachelor's in Engineering from NIT Jalandhar and a Masters in Management Science from Stanford University.
How was MobiKwik Started
Singh started MobiKwik in 2009 when he was tired of his easy-going corporate job and was looking to do something new in life. He wanted to create a simple payment platform for prepaid mobile users to recharge their currency. Since recharge is a small ticket size transaction, he created a digital wallet where users could keep the money and recharge whenever they wanted.
He seeded the company with $250 thousand of his own money, developed the website and payment options, and rented office space in Dwarka, Delhi. The initial service was a website with a closed wallet facility, but over the years, MobiKwik extended its service to mobile apps. The company launched its android app in 2012.
MobiKwik - Business Model and Revenue Model
The business & revenue models currently comes from thin spreads between deposit rates and investments in government paper below one year, and fee-based incomes by cross-selling insurance and mutual fund products.
MobiKwik - Awards
In 2014, MobiKwik won the mBillionth Award South Asia in the category of Mobile Business, for socially valuable contributions to South Asia's digital infrastructure.
MobiKwik - Funding and Investors
MobiKwik has raised a total of ~ $161.9M in funding .
Its most recent round was on December 4, 2020 for Rs 52 crores led by Hindustan Media Ventures (investment arm of HT Group) with participation from Kris Gopalakrishnan’s (Infosys Co-founder) family office Pratithi.
Here is a list of all the funding rounds of MobiKwik:
| Date | Stage | Amount | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 2010 | Seed | $500K | - |
| March 2014 | Series A | $2.5 Million | Sequoia Capital India |
| April 2015 | Series B | $25 Million | Tree Line Asia, American Express Ventures |
| May 2016 | Series C | $50 Million | Sequoia Capital India, GMO VenturePartner, MediaTek, Net1 UEPS Technologies, Inc. & Tree Line Asia |
| August 2017 | Series D | $35.4 Million | Bajaj Finserv Limited |
| December 2018 | Series E | $3.38 Million | Sequoia Capital India, GMO VenturePartners & Net1 UEPS Technologies, Inc. |
| January, 2019 | Venture Round | - | InnoVen Capital |
| March 2019 | Venture Round | $0.32 Million | Cisco Directors Gaurav Manglik & Tianying Fu |
| July 2019 | Venture Round | $1.3 Million | NDTV Limited & Trifecta Capital |
| March 2020 | Venture Round | $30 Million | - |
| November 2020 | Series E | Rs 41.5 crore | Hindustan Media Ventures |
| December 2020 | Rs 52 crore | Hindustan Media Ventures |
The funding round values MobiKwik at an estimated $414 million, 31% higher than the fair market valuation it secured in the preceding round.
MobiKwik - Partnership and Tie-ups
The company partnered with Uber India in July 2015, which enabled Uber and its drivers to utilize MobiKwik to process debit and credit card payments.
On November 8, 2017, IDFC Bank entered into a strategic partnership with digital payments solution company to launch a co-branded virtual Visa prepaid card for the customers.
In June 2019, MobiKwik announced a partnership with DT One. DT One is a global B2B network for mobile top-ups/recharge, rewards, and airtime credit services. This partnership will enable the startup to offer mobile recharge in 150+ countries across more than 550 mobile operators.
BookMyShow, Café Coffee Day, Sagar Ratna, Pizza Hut, TastyKhana, JustEat, PVR, eBay, Jabong, Snapdeal, Shopclues, HomeShop18, Naaptol, Pepperfry, Fashionara, FashionAndYou, MakeMyTrip, Ferns N Petals, are just some of the many brands associated with MobiKwik.
The company initially partnered with online merchants to make their wallets available as a payment option on e-commerce sites. Slowly, TV recharge and other utility bill payments were added.
MobiKwik - Competitors
MobiKwik’s main competitors are Paytm, Freecharge, Google Pay (earlier Tez) and PhonePe. On the wallet front it rubs shoulders with Paytm, which has over 60 million wallet users. However, it has a strong focus on the wallet, while Alipay-backed Paytm is following a horizontal approach and has forayed into B2C marketplace.
MobiKwik - Growth and Revenue
On June 10, 2019, MobiKwik reported a 5 times year-on-year growth to Rs. 362 crore in the gross transaction value of the IMPS (Immediate Payment Service) fund transfer business. With 6.7 lakh transactions during May 2019, it is targeting Rs 10,000 crore worth of transfers, till the end of FY 2020. As per National Payments Corporation of India, MobiKwik has 26 percent share of the entire IMPS transfer market in India.
In FY19, MobiKwik's revenue stood at Rs 184.6 crore, while it stood at Rs 69.6 crore in FY18.
In FY20, The net revenue of MobiKwik surged 134% to Rs. 379 crore.
"This is the third consecutive year where we have demonstrated higher than 100 per cent growth. Our cash loss has reduced 91 per cent, last year on a revenue of Rs 162 crore, we had lost in cash Rs 98 crore, versus this year's revenue of Rs 379 crore, we have lost only Rs 9 crore in cash" Says Upasana Taku, Co-founder & COO, Mobikwik
MobiKwik, has a team of 325 employees who operates in 3 major segments- Consumer Payments, Fintech (Credit, mutual funds, etc), and Payment Gateway. In FY20, consumer payments accounted for 63 % of the net revenue, Fintech for 25 % and Payment Gateway for 12% of total net revenue.
MobiKwik's merchant-facing Payment Gateway Business (via its subsidiary Zaakpay) registered net revenue of Rs 190 crore in FY20, compared to Rs 101 crore in FY19 on a standalone basis.
India's payments market is fragmented with some 60 odd banks for internet banking, multiple levels of authentication on debit and credit cards and a generally complicated electronic payment experience for the consumer. MobiKwik Wallet simplifies all that with a 1-click Payment flow on your phone, tablet or computer which works the same way every time.
As a user, you just need to trust it with your money and then you can shop on any merchant without disclosing your bank or card details. And of course, get exclusive discounts and offers every time you shop using the wallet. One can also earn money through the app by referring a friend on the platform. With the company venturing into new verticals, and having acquired a huge user base, MobiKwik is surely here to stay. The company too has exciting plans for the future.
As revealed by co-founder Upashana Taku, MobiKwik is eyeing to launch IPO by 2022.
MobiKwik - FAQs
What is MobiKwik?
MobiKwik is one of the largest mobile wallets in India. It allows Indian consumers to store money in a virtual wallet and then to use it across channels (mobile, desktop, tab, SMS, IVR) to pay utility bills and shop using a wallet with registered merchants.
What is MobiKwik Origin Country?
MobiKwik is an Indian company founded in 2009 that provides a mobile phone-based payment system and digital wallet.
Who is MobiKwik Owner?
MobiKwik was founded in 2009 by husband and wife team Bipin Preet Singh and Upasana Taku.
How much is MobiKwik's Valuation?
MobiKwik's valuation is estimated at $414 million (as of March 2020 funding round)
Who are the competitors of MobiKwik?
MobiKwik’s competitors are Paytm, Freecharge, Google Pay (earlier Tez), and PhonePe.
Author: Shubham Kumar
Source : https://startuptalky.com/mobikwik/
Date : 2021-03-30T13:17:00.000Z