Dipti Gore
One of India’s best known names in the world of business, Mr Ratan Tata has made an investment in the Indian startup space again. This time Mr Tata has invested an undisclosed amount in Noida-headquartered mobile internet firm One97 Communications Ltd, which runs m-com and virtual wallet property Paytm. Mr Tata will take up a role as an advisor in the firm.
“There is no better advisor for Paytm,” said Vijay Shekhar Sharma, co-founder and CEO, One97.
Mr Tata has been investing in the Indian consumer internet space for some time now. Snapdeal, Urban ladder, Bluestone and CarDekho are some of the earlier investments he has made. Recently, Ratan Tata has also joined Kalaari’s advisory board.
One97 has raised $30 million till now in funding from various investors including SAIF Partners, Intel Capital and Silicon Valley Bank in multiple rounds of funding. In December 2010, the company had also planned to file an IPO and go public however later decided to go with private investment instead.
Paytm claims to have 25 million active wallets, and aims to build 100 million wallets by 2015-end.
Paytm, One97’s flagship brand, is India’s largest digital goods and mobile commerce platform. Headquartered in New Delhi, One97 is more than 1200 people strong with regional offices in Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Bangalore and Kolkata with global presence in Africa, Europe, Middle East and Southeast Asia.