Indian startup PhonePe seeks $1 billion in funding from General Atlantic, other tech firms

Amid massive tech layoffs and struggles to raise new funding, some startups are raising millions of dollars from deep-pocket investors and venture capital firms, although no one knows when the funding will dry up.

According to a report from Bloomberg Thursday, Walmart-backed Indian digital payment startup PhonePe is seeking up to $1 billion from General Atlantic, Tiger Global Management, Qatar Investment Authority, and Microsoft Corp.

According to the report, the all-equity round is expected to close in the next two weeks and may take Walmart backed PhonePe's valuation close to $13 billion, making it a member of the highly coveted unicorn startup club.

The startup didn't want to comment on the story. Reuters said Walmart, General Atlantic, Tiger Global, Qatar Investment Authority, and Microsoft did not respond immediately to its requests for comment.

The Maharashtra, India-based PhonePe is a UPI-based online payment system that allows users to transfer money instantly from their phones and devices, founded in 2015 by CEO Sameer Nigam, Husna Nc Engineer and Rahul Chari.

Before founding PhonePe, Nigam worked as Senior Vice President of Engineering at Flipkart. He started his first company, Mime 360, in 2009. PhonePe says that the Indians have the right to accelerate their progress by unlocking the flow of money and access to services.