PhonePe acquires WealthDesk and OpenQ for $75 Mn

Walmart-owned PhonePe has acquired investment platform WealthDesk and wealth management platform OpenQ for a combined $75 million, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. A PhonePe spokesperson confirmed the acquisition to Entrackr.

“The founder and the entire team [of WealthDesk] will be working as a part of the PhonePe group and both the platforms will remain independent,” the company said in a statement. “PhonePe is also acquiring OpenQ … subject to necessary regulatory approvals. OpenQ is a smart beta wealth management platform, which designs investment strategies and optimal portfolio construction advice. Post acquisition, OpenQ will be instrumental in creating the Wealth Ecosystem for the PhonePe Group.”

This opens PhonePe’s account in the investment and wealth management space, something its principal competitor Amazon is only peripherally involved in, with participation in a $40 million investment round into Smallcase last August. 

After a lengthy legal tussle, PhonePe succeeded in April in moving forward with its $60 million acquisition of mobile discovery platform IndusOS, after it reached an out-of-court settlement with investors.

While PhonePe isn’t integrating these two new acquisitions directly into its business, it does intend on making sure they can expand their operations. “WealthDesk currently has 50+ partners across categories already working with them and we expect their platform to scale further by integrating with more partners,” the company said.

WealthDesk received a pre-series A investment of $3.2 million last year from Mathew Cyriac, a former Blackstone partner. It was founded in 2016, and offers bundles of investment products that it curates.