Carta vs PhonePe: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Carta had $442M (unaudited) of annual revenue in FY2024. PhonePe had ~$918.7M of annual revenue in FY2026 and a net loss of ~$323.9M.
Latest financial snapshot
Financial summary
Carta
Carta does not publish audited financials. Henry Ward has said the company was approaching $500 million in annual recurring revenue in 2025. Sacra estimates revenue of about $373 million in 2023, $442 million in 2024 (+19%), and $515 million in 2025 (+16.5%), with growth slowing after the end of zero-rate venture funding. Carta raised its last primary round, a $500 million Series G led by Silver Lake and Lightspeed, at a $7.4 billion valuation in August 2021; a January 2022 employee secondary sale reportedly priced it at $8.5 billion. Total equity funding is roughly $1 billion.
PhonePe
PhonePe's revenue from operations grew from ~$338 million (₹2,914 crore) in FY23 to ~$587 million (₹5,064 crore) in FY24 and ~$825 million (₹7,115 crore) in FY25, a CAGR of about 56% according to its DRHP. Over the same period, its loss margin improved from about -91% to -23%. FY25 net loss was ~$200 million (₹1,727 crore), and the company reported positive free cash flow that year. Growth then slowed. FY26 revenue rose 11% to about $919 million (₹7,920 crore), and consolidated net loss widened 62% to ~$324 million (₹2,792 crore), according to MCA filings reported by Moneycontrol. ESOP charges tied to the IPO and losses at subsidiaries drove much of the wider loss, and PhonePe put its normalised FY26 loss at about $160 million (₹1,377 crore). PhonePe is India's absolute dominant digital payments and financial services platform, commanding a massive private market valuation of approximately $12 billion.
Revenue and profit by year
Carta
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 run-rate | $515M | — | — | — | Source |
| FY2024 (unaudited) | $442M | — | — | — | Source |
| FY2023 (unaudited) | $373M | — | — | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Carta
- Cap table and 409A valuation subscriptions
~67% (2023, Sacra estimate)
Annual subscriptions priced by company stage and stakeholder count, plus 409A valuation packages.
- Fund administration and Fund ERP
~27% (2023, Sacra estimate)
Fees tied to fund size and complexity for accounting, tax, reporting, and related software.
- Private equity, private credit, and legal services
~5% (2023, Sacra estimate; growing)
Newer PE and private credit products, plus Carta Law from 2026.
PhonePe
- Merchant payments
About 28% (FY25)
SmartSpeaker and POS device rentals, payment gateway fees and card-based transactions.
- Consumer payments
Not formally reported
Bill payments, recharges and incentives, including government UPI incentives.
- Loan and insurance distribution
About 7.8% (FY25)
Products from partner lenders and insurers, up from about 1% of revenue in FY23. FY25 revenue from operations was ~$825 million (₹7,115 crore).
Business model and strategy
Carta
How it makes money
Carta sells annual software subscriptions plus service fees on both sides of the private market. Companies pay for cap table management, equity plan administration, and 409A valuations, with prices rising as stakeholder counts and funding stages grow.
Growth strategy
Carta grows by selling more products to the firms already on its ledger. The playbook is to take a professional service (409A valuations, fund accounting, legal work), automate it, and tie the output to Carta's system of record. Fund ERP bundles fund administration, fund tax, portfolio valuations, data collection, forecasting, and CRM.
Competitive advantage
Carta's main advantage is its two-sided network. Startups put investors on their Carta cap tables, investors adopt Carta for fund administration, and those funds steer portfolio companies to Carta. As a registered transfer agent holding the legal record of ownership, Carta is also costly to leave: switching means migrating years of grants, vesting schedules, and investor records.
PhonePe
How it makes money
Consumer UPI payments on PhonePe are free, and person-to-merchant UPI has carried zero merchant discount rate (MDR), so the payments app mostly works as a way to bring in users. Revenue comes from four main areas. First, merchant payments: SmartSpeaker soundbox and POS device rentals, payment gateway fees and card-based transactions.
Growth strategy
PhonePe's growth plan is to earn more from the users it already has rather than add payments users. It is focusing on four areas. Credit distribution covers personal, merchant and secured loans through partner lenders. Insurance broking is a second area. Wealth covers mutual funds and Share.Market broking. Merchant services cover soundboxes, POS devices and the payment gateway.
Competitive advantage
PhonePe's lead comes from scale on both sides of the UPI network. It has more than 700 million registered consumers and 50 million registered merchants. Much of that merchant base was built by field sales teams placing QR codes and SmartSpeaker devices across nearly every Indian pin code. That reach lets PhonePe sell loans, insurance and investments to customers it already has, without paying much to acquire them.
Questions about Carta vs PhonePe
Which company has higher revenue — Carta, Inc. or PhonePe?
Carta, Inc. had $442.0M (unaudited) (FY2024), while PhonePe had ~$918.7M (FY2026). By latest annual revenue, PhonePe is the larger business, with Carta, Inc. showing a smaller revenue base. Note: these are from different fiscal years and are not a direct like-for-like comparison.
How does revenue per employee compare for Carta, Inc. and PhonePe?
Carta, Inc. has $233k / employee in revenue per employee, while PhonePe has $46k / employee. Headcounts may use different dates, so the ratio alone does not establish which business operates more efficiently.
How do Carta, Inc. and PhonePe make money?
Carta, Inc. and PhonePe generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Carta, Inc.: Carta sells annual software subscriptions plus service fees on both sides of the private market. PhonePe: Consumer UPI payments on PhonePe are free, and person-to-merchant UPI has carried zero merchant discount rate (MDR), so the payments app mostly works as a way to bring in users.
Is Carta, Inc. bigger than PhonePe?
By last reported revenue, PhonePe (~$918.7M (FY2026)) is the larger company compared to Carta, Inc. ($442.0M (unaudited) (FY2024)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Carta vs PhonePe overview