Paytm Mall raises Rs 2900 Cr fund from Alibaba, SoftBank

Noida, April 3: Online marketplace Paytm Mall is all set to raise a sum of Rs 2900 crore from Japan's SoftBank Group Corp and China's Alibaba Group. While SoftBank will invest Rs 2600 crore, the Chinese online commerce giant will invest rest of the amount. As per reports, Paytm Mall has already received the first tranche of Rs 357.5 crore.

of the planned fund infusion, Softbank will put in $400 million, while the remainder will be brought in by existing investor Alibaba. Various media reports said the deal values the ecommerce firm at around $2 billion.

Paytm Mall claims a GMV (gross merchandise value) run rate of $3 billion and is targeting a $10-billion run rate by March 2019.

The company is betting big on its offline-to-online (O2O) strategy, which it thinks will drive growth. The company has tied up with brands like Big Bazaar, FBB, Samsung, Red Tape and others, apart from smaller ones that are popular across markets.

A Reuters report quoting a statement from Softbank, said, “We believe Paytm Mall’s offline-to-online operating model, combined with the strength of the Paytm ecosystem, is uniquely positioned to enable India’s 15 million offline retail shops to participate in India’s ecommerce boom”.

It further quoted Amit Sinha, Chief Operating Officer of Paytm Mall, as saying that the company would deploy the latest investment from SoftBank and Alibaba to beef up its technology and build superior logistics, among other things.