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Fintech major PhonePe has reportedly shut down its engineering office in the US, winding down a four year-old team. Sources told Times of India that the Bay Area team consisted of seven to eight engineers, who worked directly alongside PhonePe’s main mobile platform and engineering teams based in Bengaluru and other Indian hubs. A source reportedly said that the decision to close the US office was taken after PhonePe concluded that the operation was not producing sufficient results to justify its continuation. “They did not see enough coming out of the US operation to continue running it. Consolidating the work was also a way to cut costs,” a person familiar with the development reportedly said. Inc42 has reached out to the company for a comment on the matter and this story will be updated upon receiving their response. The development comes nearly four years after PhonePe first announced the US office in June 2022. At the time, the fintech major said that the overseas unit would initially employ around 10 engineers and the team would work to build the technology needed to support the company’s next 300 Mn users. The unit was led by Gaurav Lochan, a former Meta engineering executive who joined PhonePe in April 2022 as head of engineering. However, Lochan’s LinkedIn profile shows that he left the fintech unicorn in July 2026. He is currently an adviser at cybersecurity startup Aucert. The shutdown does not necessarily indicate the startup’s broader retreat from overseas expansion. Earlier this week, PhonePe CEO Sameer Nigam reportedly said that the company received its first international licence from the Central Bank of the UAE. The licence will allow PhonePe to acquire merchants, deploy point-of-sale devices and offer foreign-exchange services in the UAE. If the plan materialises, the Gulf nation will become PhonePe’s first overseas market. Back home, on the sidelines of the ongoing Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2026 in Mumbai, the Walmart-backed fintech major also recently announced a partnership with global card network Visa to launch three cardless payment solutions for consumers and merchants in India. The launches come even as there appears no clarity on PhonePe’s IPO plans. In January this year, the fintech major filed its updated draft red herring prospectus (UDRHP) with SEBI for an public issue, which comprised solely of an offer for sale (OFS) of up to 5.06 Cr equity shares. However, the company later paused its IPO plans in March amid geopolitical tensions in West Asia and volatility in global equity markets. On the financial front, PhonePe’s operating revenue rose 11.5% to ₹7,920.5 Cr in FY26 from ₹7,105 Cr in the previous fiscal year. However, its net loss widened 62% to ₹2,792 Cr from ₹1,727.4 Cr in FY25.
document fetched 2026-09-11 03:01 · canonical https://inc42.com/buzz/phonepe-shuts-down-engineering-office-in-the-us-report