Paytm said on Monday it has raised $1 billion in a new financing round as the Noida-headquartered firm, which once dominated the local mobile payments market, attempts to fight back giants Google, Walmart’s PhonePe, and Facebook.
The company said the new financing round was led by U.S. asset manager T Rowe Price. Existing investors Ant Financials (contributed $400 million), SoftBank Vision Fund (contributed $200 million), and Discovery Capital also participated in the round, which valued the company at about $16 billion — higher than any other local startup and some of the high-profile Asian startups such as Grab and Gojek.
Paytm founder and chief executive Vijay Shekhar Sharma said the firm will use the fresh capital to court merchants as Paytm looks to expand its presence among small and medium-sized businesses. The company will also work on expanding its financial offerings such as lending and insurance to users. Paytm, which also offers its mobile wallet service in Japan, has amassed 15 million merchants, he said.
The big buck comes as India turns into the newest payments battleground for major global giants Google, Walmart, and Facebook. According to Credit Suisse, the digital payments market in India will be worth $1 trillion in the next four years, up from about $200 billion currently.
More to follow…
India’s financial services firm Paytm raises $1B posted first on http://bestpricesmartphones.blogspot.com
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