Paytm Signs Strategic Partnership With SHEROES For Women-Only Social Community Feed

Digital payments player Paytm has signed a strategic partnership with women community platform SHEROES to introduce a social community platform exclusively for women on Paytm app.

The platform is being added on Paytm Inbox as an interactive social feed where women can engage in several topics, including health, careers, relationships, cooking, and hobbies. They can also share life stories, achievements and moments with fellow participants.

Deepak Abbot, senior vice president, Paytm said, “This is an important initiative towards women’s empowerment as it provides specially curated content and various communities that they can participate in as per their interests. This social platform will provide a powerful forum for them to express, learn and share while educating themselves.”

How Does The Platform Work?

The company aims at empowering women with informative content on personal development, career guidance, health, lifestyle and inspirational stories, especially curated by SHEROES.

Founded by Sairee Chahal in 2013, SHEROES offers a space where 14 Mn women discuss health, careers, relationships, and share their life stories, achievements and moments. The platform has more than 30 communities with members participating from different sectors such as homemakers, professionals, gig workers, entrepreneurs, and students.

The SHEROES platform envisions to touch the lives of 100 Mn women in the next 36 months.

Avinash Hindupur, chief product officer, SHEROES said, “Leveraging Paytm’s depth and reach, millions of women Internet users can now access over 1000 communities offering advice, a platform for visibility and conversations. This partnership is a strategic step towards our goal of taking the community ecosystem to 100 Mn women.”

Paytm’s Attempt At Women Empowerment

The integration is a part of Paytm’s effort to boost Paytm Inbox platform. The company has repeatedly claimed that it is witnessing huge traction for its newly launched content-based services that includes News, Live TV, Cricket, Entertainment Videos, and Games.

As a part of its initiatives to further expand this offering, it has been partnering with several content-providers, ensuring the best of Infotainment delivered to its users. Paytm Inbox claims to have registered over 30 Mn monthly visitors for content-based services. The company’s target is to have 250 Mn monthly active users this year for which it has allocated INR 750 Cr. The deep dive into content space may be a worthwhile plan for Paytm, as it struggles to stick ground in terms of digital payments.

It is interesting to note that Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder of One 97 Communications, is also an investor in SHEROES. While the startup ecosystem across the world maybe burgeoning, women founders continue to account for a measly 13% and own a mere 6% equity. In fact, only 10% of startup funding globally goes to women-led startups.

On the other hand, the value of the global female consumer market stands at $18 Tn and accounts for 85% of global consumer spending. In light of these facts, many organisations both private and government-led, are now giving women-entrepreneurs and women-focussed startups a head start with various initiatives in order to help them showcase the value-add of their products for women.