Cisco has invested in MobiKwik, an Indian “mobile wallet” company that offers payment for goods and services from a consumer’s desktop or mobile device. Cisco acquired a minority stake for an undisclosed amount in the company’s $30 million Series B round.
The investment was led by Cisco’s India corporate development team. The lead investor was Tree Line Asia, and American Express and existing investor Sequoia Capital also helped fund the round.
The funds will support user and personnel growth, expansion of MobiKwik’s merchant network, marketing and investments in data analytics. MobiKwik currently has over 15 million users and 25,000 merchants.
It is not known if MobiKwik intends to purchase Cisco’s Connected Analytics products for its data analytics investment.
The company plans to raise another $150 million in the latter half of 2015 to create a scalable offline network for cash loading in to the wallet and for wallet payments acceptance. MobiKwik has also applied for a payments bank license earlier this year, and has sights set on becoming India’s first digital bank.
Said Alok Bardiya, Country Director, Cisco Corporate Development, in a statement:
This investment demonstrates our focus on India and the belief we have in the country becoming a hotbed for innovation. Financial inclusion is a key pillar for the Digital India initiative and MobiKwik’s product innovation across the spectrum of mobile phones and platforms will help support the new Government’s vision by offering a more dependable and low cost solution that provides financial access to many.
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