It’s 2021 and the Indian startup boom isn’t showing any sign of slowing down. The Covid effect has not stopped Indian startups from entering the unicorn club. Surpassing this year’s expectations and projections, India added 14 new unicorns to the coveted list in just 5 months of the year 2021. A ‘unicorn’ is a startup that is valued at $1 billion or more.
Money9 is inspired by the stories of such startups who think beyond numbers and create an impact on society with their vision. Money9’s new series ‘Inspiring India- The Unicorn Way’ will showcase the journey of these companies.
In the first episode of ‘Inspiring India-The Unicorn Way’, PhonePe founder and CEO Sameer Nigam describes the payments company’s journey from a startup to a unicorn.
“We never planned to become a unicorn, we were focused on our vision when we started our organization in 2016. At that time the penetration of digital payment was very minuscule. It was negligible in rural India. This challenge inspired us to work on our mission of empowering every Indian with a digital payment facility in the next 10 years” Nigam said.
The digital infrastructure in the country was already in place to some extent when the Covid-19 outbreak happened. Most of the retailers or shopkeepers had digital payment facilities for customers, says Nigam.
The pandemic boosted digital payments and online transactions in the country. Overnight many people turned to digital to buy and access things for their daily needs. Mobile recharges happened online. Internet consumption increased drastically, he added.
The lockdown and restrictions also pushed consumers to opt for home delivery options, increasing sales of food delivery services and e-commerce sites. So overall the digital payments saw a peaking rise due to Covid-19. Over 30 to 35 crore Indians have now at least one digital payment app on their smartphones.
PhonePe came up with many employee-friendly steps during the pandemic. The company had mandated work from home and salaries are given to its employees. It also ensured that the company is financially inclusive by initiating ESOPs for their employees.
“You have to recognize that every last mile worker is essential to the growth of your company. So equitable distribution of incentives is really necessary. Especially if your vision is to improve the financial inclusion of the country it is important you take that first step from your own organization by ensuring that all employees are empowered. And I am so happy to say that we have already allocated around Rs 1,500 crore ESOPs to our employees, including our staff and last-mile workers. To junior-most employees, we have given ESOPs of around Rs 3-4 lakh,” Nigam said.
PhonePe has improved upon the representation of women in senior management from 16 % to 25 %. It is aiming to increase the representation to 35 %. “It is important that we create a breakdown that will help women transitioning into motherhood or marriage to not suffer in their career,” says Nigam.
Watch the full episode to know more about PhonePe’s journey
