Pine Labs

Pine Labs is an Indian merchant platform company that provides financing and last-mile retail transaction technology, founded in 1998. It is one of the unicorn companies, with a valuation of over US$1 billion.[2][3]

Pine Labs Pvt. Ltd.
IndustryFintech
Founded1998 (1998)
FounderLokvir Kapoor
Rajul Garg
Tarun Upaday
Headquarters
Noida, India
Area served
India, Middle East, Southeast Asia
Key people
Lokvir Kapoor Executive Chairman
B.Amrish Rau Chief Executive Officer
ProductsmyPlutus app, Plutus Smart
ServicesInstant EMI, Instant Discounts, Cashback Programs, PaybyPoints, Loyalty Solutions, eWallet, Targeted Promotions, Dynamic Currency Conversion and Gift Solution
Revenue$173 Million[1] (2018)
SubsidiariesQwikcilver Solutions Pvt Ltd.
Websitewww.pinelabs.com

It provides a merchant platform and makes software for point of sale (PoS) machines.[4] The company has more than 70,000 retailers across India, including major retail outlets such as Mark's and Spencer's Retail, Pantaloons, Shoppers Stop and Westside.[5] It has a presence in India and Malaysia and other parts of Asia.[6]

Some of its investors include PayPal, Temasek, Actis Capital, Altimeter Capital, Sofina and Sequoia Capital.

History

The company was founded in 1998. The company evolved from a petroleum automation retail solutions player to becoming a payments products and services firm for merchants. It has over 100,000 merchants in India and other Asian countries. Pine Labs platform powers over 350,000 PoS terminals in India.[7]

In 2004, Pine Labs ventured into mainstream payments and financial offerings for merchants.

The company acquired a gifting startup Qwikcilver for $110 million in March 2019.[8][9][4]

In February 2019, the company partnered with RAKBANK to launch a payment platform in the UAE. In March 2018, Google Pay came into partnership with Pine Labs to capture the offline payments space in India.[10][11] The company was partnered with UnionPay in January 2019.[12]

Funding

In May 2018, Pine Labs raised $125 million (₹ 843 crores) from Temasek Holdings and PayPal, making it one of the unicorn startup companies with a valuation of over $1 billion.[13][14]

In March 2018, the company raised $82 million (₹ 530 crores) from Actis Capital, a private equity fund and Altimeter Capital, a California-based investment company.[15] It had also raised funds in 2015 from Sofina and in 2009 from Sequoia Capital.[16][3] As of May 2018, It has raised a total of $208 million.[13]

In May 2019, the company was listed among the top 10 highest-funded startups in India by CNBC TV18.[6]

In Jan 2020, the company announced it had raised an undisclosed sum from Mastercard .[17]

In December 2020, Pine Labs raised US$75-$100 million led by US based billionaire Stephen Mandel's hedge fund Lone Pine Capital. After this funding Pine Labs valuation increased to more than US$2 billion.

Products and services

The company provides mobile point of sale (PoS) solutions that allow merchants to accept credit and debit card payments. Some of the offerings of Pine Labs include Instant EMI, Instant Discounts, Cashback Programs, PaybyPoints, Loyalty Solutions, eWallet, Targeted Promotions, Dynamic Currency Conversion and Gift Solution.[18][19][20][21]

See also

References
  1. Khatri, Bhumika (1 November 2018). "Pine Labs Makes It Back To Loss Gang For FY18 With 64.6% Increase In Expenses". inc42.com.
  2. Agarwal, Meha (28 January 2019). "The Indian Startups That Turned Unicorn In 2018". Inc42.com.
  3. "Striking gold: A look at India's growing club of Unicorns". The Economic Times. 29 June 2018.
  4. Arakali, Harichandan (19 March 2019). "Singapore's Pine Labs acquires gift card tech company Qwikcilver in $110 million deal". Forbes India.
  5. Gooptu, Biswarup; Bhakta, Pratik (28 August 2017). "Season may be right for Sequoia to exit Pine Labs". The Economic Times.
  6. "Here are the top 10 highest-funded startups in India". CNBC TV18. 29 May 2019.
  7. Abrar, Peerzada; Mishra, Bibhu Ranjan (12 June 2019). "Pine Labs gears up for next phase of growth, plans to foray into new mkts". Business Standard.
  8. Bhakta, Pratik (20 March 2019). "Pine Labs acquires gifting startup Qwikcilver". The Economic Times.
  9. "Why Pine Labs is acquiring Qwikcilver". The Economic Times. 26 February 2019.
  10. Soni, Yatti (28 March 2018). "Google Pay Partners With Pine Labs To Capture Offline Payments Space In India". Inc42.com.
  11. "Google Pay looks beyond UPI, card payments in the works". The Economic Times. 10 May 2019.
  12. "UnionPay acceptance coverage in India continues to increase". Unionpayintl. 10 January 2019.
  13. Russel, John (31 May 2018). "PayPal and Singapore's Temasek invest $125M in Indian payment startup Pine Labs". TechCrunch.
  14. "India's Pine Labs Racks Up $125 Million". The Wall Street Journal. 31 May 2018.
  15. Bhakta, Pratik (13 March 2018). "Actis, Altimeter put $82 million in Pine Labs to grow roots". The Economic Times.
  16. Alexander, George Smith (13 March 2015). "Sequoia's Pine Labs Said to Seek Funding at $1 Billion Valuation". Bloomberg News.
  17. "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem". www.techinasia.com. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  18. "Pine Labs brings digital payment innovations to the MENA Region". Dubai: Saudi Gazette. 18 March 2018.
  19. "Pine Labs revenues grow 55% to ₹302 crore, while slipping into loss, in FY18". Theindianwire.com. 31 October 2018.
  20. Shaikh, Shadma (19 November 2015). "Use reward points, don't lose them". Asian Age.
  21. Gupta, Soumya (7 February 2017). "'Soon To Be Unicorns' : India's Top 40+". BusinessWorld.
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