India’s largest commercial bank State Bank of India has invested US$20 million in Pine Labs, a merchant commerce platform that is planning to launch an initial public offering in the United States this year.

In 2021 the company, which serves prominent large, mid-sized and small merchants across India and Southeast Asia, raised US$600 million from a set of new investors and followed it up with a US$100 million fundraise from US-based Invesco Developing Markets Fund. As of July 2021, its valuation was estimated at US$3.5 billion.

In addition to augmenting its merchant commerce offerings at the offline point-of-sale, Pine Labs is now looking to invest in scaling Plural, its newly launched brand of online payment products, and emerge as an omnichannel partner of choice for merchants.

Commenting on the latest funding, Pine Labs chief executive officer B. Amrish Rau says: “We are thrilled to have the largest bank of India, the State Bank of India, place their trust in us and welcome them in this journey where we are empowering merchants with seamless and secure payment experiences across offline and online platforms. In the last one year, several marquee investors have placed their trust in our business model and growth momentum and that is a gratifying feeling. This association with SBI is a personally satisfying experience as I had started my career selling financial services technology to SBI.”

Pine Labs is also expanding its “buy now, pay later” business. It has entered the consumer payment space with its April 2021 acquisition of Fave, one of Southeast Asia’s leading consumer fintech platforms, and the gift, pre-paid and stored-value segment through its 2019 acquisition of Qwikcilver.