Alibaba, SAIF Partners pump $200m into India's Paytm E-Commerce www.asia.nikkei.com
MUMBAI -- Chinese e-commerce powerhouse Alibaba Group Holding and venture fund SAIF Partners are investing a total of about $200 million to help India's Paytm E-Commerce boost its domestic presence against such majors as Amazon of the U.S. and Flipkart of India, according to sources.
The fresh round of funding from Alibaba's Singapore arm for Paytm's e-commerce venture will not only help Alibaba better take on global giant Amazon in India, it may also create opportunities for other players to raise money, experts say.
Paytm has yet to comment on the investment.
Paytm E-Commerce, which recently launched Paytm Mall -- similar to Alibaba's Tmall online marketplace -- has been spun off from parent One97 Communications. One97 Communications runs mobile wallet operations under the Paytm brand.
Paytm Mall claims to offer customers a choice of 68 million products from some 140,000 sellers. It has partnered with various third-party warehouse providers and makes deliveries via 17 logistics centers and 40 courier companies.
According to various media reports, the combined stakes of Alibaba and affiliate Ant Financial in Paytm E-Commerce will now increase to 62% from 40%. The Economic Times reported that One97 Communications was valued at $4.8 billion in 2016, when it raised $60 million from Taiwanese chip designer Mediatek. Ant Financial owns a 32% stake in One97 Communications, while Alibaba holds around 8%.
Other investors in One97 Communications include U.S. venture capital company Sapphire Ventures and Silicon Valley Bank.
This is another big boost for One97 Communications, whose mobile wallet business surged after India's demonetization move took high-denomination currency notes out of circulation. Some experts say Alibaba's latest investment could help Paytm expand its e-commerce business beyond India.
Paytm is still small compared with Amazon and Flipkart, which together control 80% of India's e-commerce market. Amazon India has deep pockets thanks to its parent company, and Flipkart is reportedly looking to take in a billion dollars in fresh funding.
Snapdeal, another big Indian e-commerce player, recently had to lay off employees to remain profitable. Alibaba holds a roughly 5% stake in the company.
Published Date:2017-03-07