India's Paytm Raises $1 Billion in Fresh Funding

Indian digital payments company Paytm said on Monday it has raised fresh funds from a group of investors, including existing backers such as SoftBank's Vision Fund and Alibaba's Ant Financial.

Paytm did not officially disclose details of the funding, but a source said the Indian company raised $1 billion in the latest round.

Accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates were among the new investors for the fund, Paytm said in a statement.

Financial daily Economic Times quoted Paytm Chief Executive Officer Vijay Shekhar Sharma as saying the round would lift the company's valuation to $16 billion (roughly Rs. 1,14,000 crores).

Sharma in a press statement said, "At Paytm, we are committed to bringing half a billion Indians to the mainstream economy by onboarding them in the formal financial ecosystem. This new investment by our current and new investors is a reaffirmation of our commitment to serve Indians with new age financial services."

The company will expand into insurance, lending and investments and invest Rs. 10,000 crores over the next three years to include more users in the country, Paytm said.

©  Reuters

November 25, 2019