CEO & Co-Founder, PhonePe
PhonePe Launches Indus App Store, Challenger To Google Play Store | CNBC TV18
PhonePe's challenger to Google Playstore Indus Appstore crosses 100,000 downloads since launch on Feb 21. In a chat with Akhil Vishwanath, Sameer Nigam explained the rationale for taking on Google with developer-friendly policies, including 0% commission on in-app purchases.
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About Sameer Nigam
Sameer Nigam, co-founder and CEO of PhonePe, has stated that the company filed its confidential draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) in late 2025 and is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO). He has said that the company aims to list in India, noting that it paid a "hefty bill" to reverse-flip its domicile from Singapore back to India. Nigam has described the timing as appropriate, citing the core business's path to profitability and the ability to nurture new businesses. He has also said that non-payments revenues now constitute a majority of the company's income. Nigam has discussed the company's expansion into new verticals, including lending, insurance, wealth management, and an app store called Indus Appstore. He has described the company's vision as "liberating the progress of a billion Indians by providing equal access to all digital goods, services and access to money." Regarding the proposed 30% market share cap on UPI players, Nigam has questioned what steps he is expected to take to reduce PhonePe's market share, stating that the burden of increasing competition should not fall on the market leader. He has also commented on the role of AI, saying he believes it will "give people wings" and transform jobs rather than eliminate them.
Transcript (11 segments)
✨ AI-enhanced transcript with speaker attribution
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Host0:01
Welcome back, you're still with us on Startup Street. PhonePe has opened a new battlefront with Google Play Store in India by officially launching its latest offering, Indus App Store. Since launch last week, Indus App Store is set to have garnered 100,000 downloads. In a chat with my colleague Akil Vishad, PhonePe co-founder and CEO Sameer Nigam explained the rationale behind taking on Google Play Store with developer-friendly policies, which includes 0% commission on in-app purchases, this compared to the 15-30% fee levied by Google Play Store. Take a look.
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Sameer Nigam0:31
I don't care if they actually charged 80%, as long as other app stores could exist, including OEM app stores, could exist and thrive without Google trying to actually restrict access there. I don't think they could ever charge much more than the market will allow. Markets balance out when there's competition. So I think we trying to create competition. Are they going to be thrilled about it? No.
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Interviewer0:54
Could you take me through the kind of reception you've received from developers and some of the demands that they had and how you've been trying to meet them?
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Sameer Nigam1:01
The platform fees is free for the first year only. The reason it's free obviously is we are late entrance into the market and we need to prove to the developers that there's value in our platform. So it is free because we needed to make it free. That's the fastest way to get a lot of app developers in. We have about 2 lakh apps listed on the app store today. We hope to get to about half a million by year end. So the only way to do that is to take any friction out. We've taken the path of least resistance. That's more of a sort of early stage growth hack, if you may. As far as in-app billing and payments is concerned, we actually have a very strong point of view. We see it as ridiculous for us as a payments company that's benefited from interoperability to say, 'Come to my app store, we are fresh, we are new, it's a new way of thinking, but by the way, same old restriction.' Why? If you don't like my billing service or you don't like my catalog service, why the hell would I force you to use it? This whole idea of forcing people to do something is very 2.0 and we don't subscribe to it.
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Interviewer2:03
One key category which caught my attention was the real money gaming apps on the platform. Now we see that there is a bit of regulatory overhang now when it comes to Google Play Store. They're playing it a little cautious when it comes to it. What's your perspective on it? What are your comments on that? Again, mentioning Harsh Jain, the founder of Dream11, he was here. What is your take on the regulatory overhang and these apps being on the platform?
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Sameer Nigam2:26
So I said this after the panel at the event and I have told her this as well: as long as the law of the land allows for real money games, we will allow them on the platform. Our position as a platform is going to be that we will abide by the law of the land that is penned down. I find it hypocritical that Google allows Dream11 to advertise on YouTube and Google and everywhere else and take their ad dollars, but won't let them list on the Play Store. I think that's having your cake and eating it too.
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Interviewer3:00
Now what's the monetization strategy behind Indus App Store?
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Sameer Nigam3:06
A lot of localized advertising opportunity will arise if you can show that there's consumers for it because it's new. I think video-based discovery, as we said, I think that's one where developers are willing and are increasingly spending because they're seeing new ROI. Right? Video advertising is the big new frontier in the ad space, and I think by offering it on deck on the platform, I think we can pick up fair money.
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Interviewer3:33
Got it. My next question was going to be on integrations with OEMs. You spoke about integrating with smartphone makers. We've read reports of tie-ups with Nokia and Lava, but any more that we could hear sometime this year or the next?
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Sameer Nigam3:46
Almost all of them were in the audience. We are talking clearly to everybody. I can't say more. That one's a tricky dive, as you know, because of the competitive environment. There are barriers to entry and a lot of them that we need to overcome, but we're getting there. We're getting there sooner than we expected.
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Host4:09
Okay, on that note, it's a wrap in this edition of Startup Street. Thanks for watching. More news and updates will continue on the other side.