Pine Labs

Pine Labs is an Indian multinational company that provides point of sale (POS) systems and payment systems. Founded in 1998, it makes Android-based POS machines that are primarily used by retailers in India, UAE, and Malaysia.[3][4]

History

The company was founded in 1998.[5] The company initially provided petroleum retail automation services, before becoming a payments products and services firm for merchants, selling POS terminals.[6]

In 2004, Pine Labs ventured into mainstream payments and financial offerings for merchants.[7]

The company acquired gifting startup Qwikcilver for $110 million in March 2019.[8][9][10]

In February 2019, the company partnered with RAKBANK to launch a payment platform in the UAE. In March 2018, Google Pay and Pine Labs partnered for offline payments offerings in India.[11][12] The company partnered with UnionPay in January 2019.[13]

In April 2021, Pine Labs acquired Southeast Asian deals and cash-back platform Fave for $45 million.[14] Fave's co-founders Joel Neoh, Yeoh Chen Chow, and Arzumy MD, continued working in the company.[15]

In August 2021, the company suffered a data breach exposing the data of up to 500,000 of its users to hackers.[16]

In January 2022, Pine Labs filed confidentially for an initial public offering (IPO) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission seeking to raise about $500 million.[17]

On 21 May 2024, Pine Labs received approval from Singapore Court to dissolve its Singapore branch.[18] In August 2024, it obtained approval from the National Company Law Tribunal for its planned merger of its Indian and Singaporean entities.[19]

In February 2026, a partnership was announced between OpenAI and Pine Labs.[20]

Funding

Pine Labs raised funds in 2009 from Sequoia Capital and in 2015 from Sofina.[21][22]

In March 2018, the company raised $82 million (₹530 crore) from Actis Capital, a private equity fund, and Altimeter Capital, a California-based investment company.[23] In May 2018, Pine Labs raised $125 million (₹843 crore) from Temasek Holdings and PayPal, making it a unicorn startup company valued over $1 billion.[24][25][26]

In January 2020, it raised an undisclosed sum from Mastercard.[27] In December 2020, it raised US$75-$100 million led by US-based billionaire Stephen Mandel's hedge fund Lone Pine Capital at a valuation of more than US$2 billion. In July 2021, it raised $325 million at a valuation of $3.5 billion from Fidelity and BlackRock.[28]

In 2022, the company raised $150 million from Alpha Wave at a valuation of US$5 billion.[29]

Products and services

The company provides POS devices that allow merchants to accept credit and debit card payments.[30][31][32][33]

See also

• List of unicorn startup companies
• Payment and settlement systems in India