Paytm to raise Rs 12,000 crore from Softbank in largest e-commerce funding

The funding, expected to materialise in 3 weeks, to help push firm's banking and finance investments

Alibaba-backed online marketplace company Paytm, which is in a rapid expansion mode, is in talks for a fresh round of funding for investment in banking and finance, besides other expansion plans. The company, it is learnt, is looking to raise around Rs 12,000 crore from Japan’s SoftBank, in the single-largest investment in an e-commerce company.

The funding, it is believed, could materialise within the next three weeks, though Paytm Founder and Chief Executive Officer Vijay Shekhar Sharma did not comment on it.

Read this : Paytm parent One97 set to raise over $1.8 billion from SoftBank: report

Paytm, in tie-up with MMTC’s Swiss venture PAMP SA, on Thursday launched a wealth-management platform that allows you to invest in gold for as low as Re 1, in the first such initiative anywhere in the world. It announced the launch of ‘Digital Gold’, a vertical to allow its 200-million plus users to buy, store and sell gold instantly. CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma referred to the new offer as a wealth management product that would be part of its proposed payments bank, still awaiting a final nod from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The company would need around Rs 10,000 crore of investments in banking and finance for over three years, Sharma pointed out. The company has been burning a lot of money as well while on the growth path. In the fourth quarter of FY2017, the company spent over $105 million on various projects, including expansion in Canada. Payments banks can accept deposits from individuals and small businesses of up to Rs 1 lakh per account. To deepen financial inclusion in the country, the RBI had allowed small finance banks and payments banks to start services.(read more)