In the midst of talks about a blanket ban on Chinese goods, this news is definitely a surprise. The Chinese master of e-commerce 'Alibaba' is eyeing to work closely with Indian executives of the Indian online payment portal 'Paytm'.
Currently, about 15 odd- Chinese employees are camping in Paytm's office in Noida. The aim is to learn how the Indian marketplace works, and who could be the best possible partner other thanPaytm which owns 40 per cent stake in Alibaba's and its affiliate Ant Financial's parent company One97 Communications.
Paytm denied any such move, saying that its working relationship with the Alibaba group sees teams from both sides visiting each other's offices regularly. Alibaba's executives too denied any such plans as "market rumour". However, it has long been reported off and on in media reports that Alibaba plans to debut its B2C site model in India within the next six months and it was also considering acquiring Shopclues initially.
Recent Appointees at Paytm
Perhaps, it all could have been overlooked but off-lately, Alibaba's global managing director, K. Guru Gowrappan, joined Paytm's board as an additional director. This appointment on the board has seen three nominees for the position from the Chinese giant, as the move was acting as a precursor to migrate the Paytm marketplace into Alibaba's own portal.
Some other high profile appointments at Paytm, in the recent months also point out that online payment giant is busy building an integrated technology. Deepak Abbot, who quit Times Internet about a month ago, has joined Paytm as the Senior VP Product growth. He was earlier heading the Smartapp division for about 2.2 years. Well-versed with growth-marketing, product and analytics. Abbot has also worked as the CPO at Reliance Entertainment Digital; as product manager at Zapak; Satyam Computers and with CyberMedia.
In October, Paytm also hired former Google executive Amit Singhal, as the strategic advisor for its board. Last but not the least, Paytm appointed MadhurDeora as the chief financial officer and Senior Vice President.
At present Alibaba group is present in India through Paytm and Snapdeal but a bigger bang is expected to happen after this, which would indicate its direct entry in India. It is sure to increase the competition significantly then.
Paytm on the Funding Front
In August 2016, Paytmsuccessfully raised $60 million from Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer MediaTek. Overall the company is looking to raise $300 million (approximately Rs. 2000 crore), the rest of which is expected to be raised through Alibaba and SAIF Partners. Paytm had previously raised an undisclosed amount in funding from Alibaba and Ant Financial in September last year. In February 2015, Ant Financial Services also acquired 25 per cent stake in One97 Communications for an undisclosed amount.
BW Reporters
Soumya is a young writer and journalist, with bachelors in Multimedia and Mass Communication. She is an alumini of the Asian College of Journalism, and finds politics and sustainability intriguing beats to work with.
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