Payment technology company Pine Labs, backed by PayPal and Mastercard, won over public investors on Friday, finishing its first day of trading 14% higher even after lowering its valuation for its $440 million IPO. This makes it the second-largest Indian fintech listing this year after online brokerage Groww’s nearly $750 million debut earlier this week.

The stock opened at ₹242 and rose as high as ₹284 before settling at ₹252, up from the issue price of ₹221, resulting in a market capitalization of ₹289 billion (approximately $3.3 billion) for the Gurugram-based company.

It’s a step down from Pine Labs’ 2022 private valuation of over $5 billion, but still a clear signal that investors are backing India’s growing push to take its fintech model global.

Founded in 1998, Pine Labs has been steadily expanding beyond India and now operates in 20 markets, including Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, the UAE, the U.S., and some parts of Africa. What started as a point-of-sale terminal provider has since evolved into a broader payments platform that supports bill payments, account-aggregator transactions, and a range of merchant and acquiring services.

In India, Pine Labs competes with the likes of Razorpay, Paytm, and Walmart-owned PhonePe. The company became profitable in the June quarter, posting a net profit of ₹47.86 million (about $540,000), compared with a loss of ₹278.89 million a year earlier. Revenue from operations rose 17.9% year-over-year to ₹6.16 billion (around $69 million), while its overseas business contributed roughly 15% of total revenue, rising to ₹943.25 million (about $11 million) from ₹795.97 million a year earlier.

“We will never stop being a startup,” said Amrish Rau, CEO of Pine Labs, during its public listing ceremony. “Now that we are a listed company, [that word] will not be heard in our halls.”

Existing investors, including Peak XV Partners, Temasek Holdings, PayPal, and Mastercard, were among those who sold part of their holdings in the public listing.

“Pine Labs never wanted to compete on price,” said Shailendra Singh, managing director at Peak XV Partners. “It always wanted to compete on a superior proposition. And we know this company would keep compounding because there were such strong moats in the business, and it shaped our worldview of how to think about companies and be patient and let ecosystems mature.”

Peak XV Partners, which split from Sequoia Capital in 2023, first invested in Pine Labs in 2009 amid the global financial crisis. The VC firm is also seeing back-to-back partial public exits this week, as Pine Labs is its second portfolio company to list after Groww, which debuted on Indian exchanges with a 12% pop and closed its first trading day 29% above its issue price of ₹100.

Pine Labs’ market debut is part of a broader wave, as the public-listing engine in India is revving up. From tech and fintech to e-commerce and manufacturing, more startups are choosing to go public — fueled by strong domestic investor appetite, eased interest-rate conditions, and regulatory nudges to boost listings. Globally, finance has been the top IPO sector this year, with IPOs worth $34.34 billion so far in 2025, more than doubling the $14.05 billion raised over the same period in 2024, according to Dealogic.

With its public debut, Pine Labs plans to keep widening its geographic footprint while deepening its presence in India with new products and services aimed at the country’s rapidly expanding, internet-driven consumer base.

“Our core business will keep expanding. Our moats will be strengthened, and margins will grow,” Rau said.