Pine Labs, a point-of-sale and merchant commerce solution provider incorporated in Singapore, has become the first unicorn of 2020 from India after a deal with New York-based financial services major Mastercard.
Reports suggest that the deal will take Pine Labs' valuation to as much as USD 1.6 billion.
The collaboration will deliver an extensive range of card and real-time payments-based installment financing at checkout – in-store and online, Pine Labs said in a statement following the deal with Mastercard.
"Together, the companies will offer a suite of value-added services, including Pine Labs' end-to-end stored value solutions which will replace the paper ones now widely used by companies, retailers and people in South Asia and many other markets," the Indian company said.
The American card network major is planning to utilise this partnership to deliver more choice to its clientele and expand its market reach.
"This relationship is a great validation of the top-quality products that Pine Labs delivers to merchants. Together, we have a unique opportunity to use Mastercard's global presence and technology infrastructure to enhance our growth and enable us to meet the growing needs of customers in India and beyond," said Pine Labs founder and chairman Lokvir Kapoor.
"With this partnership, we're continuing to build innovative solutions and provide people with new ways to pay right at their fingertips. By joining forces with Pine Labs, we are reinforcing our strategy to deliver choice to consumers and to be the partner of choice for our customers in South Asia and around the world," said Ari Sarker, co-president for Asia-Pacific at Mastercard.
Pine Labs' key investors include Sequoia India, Actis Capital, Temasek, PayPal and Sofina.
