Online payment and shopping site Paytm is close to raising between $300 million and $350 million (approximately Rs 2,000 crore to Rs 2,350 crore),
Mint reported on Monday (29 August).
Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma has refused to comment on the matter so far. However, officials involved told the
Economic Times that the new funding round would push its valuation to $5 billion (approximately Rs 33,000 crore).
According to several media reports, other than existing investors such as Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and SAIF Partners, the new round of fundraising will see participation from Singapore’s Temasek Holdings, Taiwanese chipmaker MediaTek and Wall Street major Goldman Sachs.
Paytm, which recently hived off its e-commerce and payments bank businesses into separate companies, would use these fresh funds to bolster the two businesses.
Experts are of the view that the funds are likely to be used for the company’s payments business, a payments bank it plans to set up and its online shopping arm. This comes at a time when other Indian startups in the same space are struggling to raise funds, giving Paytm a strong chance to take on rivals Amazon and Flipkart.
According to report in the
Times of India, Flipkart last raised money at $15.2 billion, but is now taking time to close a new round because investors are wary of offering a higher valuation. Delhi-based online marketplace Snapdeal closed a refinancing round of $200 million in February but that was largely via secondary sales, where existing investors sold stakes to new investors; only about $50 million came into the company's books.
Alibaba Group has invested $700 million in Paytm so far and holds a 40 per cent stake in the company. The Chinese e-commerce major is planning to start an e-tailing business in India early next year, and is said to be considering using Paytm's commerce entity as the launch vehicle.
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