PhonePe, an Indian digital payments company, announced on Friday that Walmart Inc., its major investor, had contributed $200 million to its $12 billion pre-money valuation.

One of the most valuable startups in India and the most valuable payments company, PhonePe, said the investment is a part of its ongoing $1 billion round of fundraising.

At the same $12 billion valuation, it has raised $350 million from private equity firm General Atlantic and $100 million from Ribbit Capital, Tiger Global, and TVS Capital Funds in the last two months.

The American retail giant Walmart, which purchased a majority stake in PhonePe in 2018, will remain an investor, the Indian company said without revealing its ownership.

Due to the popularity of online payments and startups’ aspirations to enter the lucrative financial services sector, the Indian digital payments sector has been a bright spot despite a funding winter.

According to PhonePe, these funds will be used to launch and grow new businesses in the insurance, wealth management, and lending sectors.

When PhonePe moved its registered headquarters from Singapore to India late last year, it also split from Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart. Walmart paid the nearly $1 billion in taxes associated with the move.

According to some reports, the relocation was made to make it simpler to enter the nation’s highly regulated financial services sector, particularly lending.

(Adapted from FintechFutures.com)