SUMMARY
The Fund Infusion Is A Part of $445 Mn Funding Round Paytm Mall Raised In April 2018
Paytm Mall has received the third of the four tranches as part of its larger $455 Mn funding round, as per the latest filings with MCA. The ecommerce major has now received $220 Mn of the total fund. In the third tranche, both SoftBank and Alibaba have together fill in $110 Mn.
As per an ET report, the recent fund infusion brings up SoftBank’s stake to 11.99% while reduces Alibaba’s stake in Paytm Mall to 50.8%.
Earlier this month, Paytm Mall officially gained a unicorn status at a valuation of $2 Bn. As per a regulatory filing by Paytm Ecommerce, SoftBank has invested $400 Mn (INR 2600 Cr) while the remaining amount i.e. $45 Mn (INR 292.5 Cr) has been invested by Alibaba. The first tranche of $53.4 Mn (INR 357.5 Cr) was said to be filled in at the time of fund announcement earlier.
Based on China’s TMall retail model, Paytm Mall started operating as an independent entity (from Paytm) and a consumer shopping app in February 2017. Later, in March 2017, Alibaba invested $200 Mn in the company. Later in December 2017, it was reported that Paytm was planning to invest around $2.5 Bn in its ecommerce arm within the next three to five years.
As far as numbers are concerned, at the time of its launch, the ecommerce platform had over 140K sellers. As per company’s website, it currently has over 10 Cr+ customers, 500+ categories and has reached 39K pin codes.
The fund infusion in Paytm Mall by Alibaba and SoftBank has come at a time when Flipkart is on verge of getting acquired by global retailer Walmart. The Indian ecommerce is currently a market worth $200 Bn. As Snapdeal goes down, and Flipkart gets ready to be gobbled up, the ecommerce game in India is all set to go more exciting with Amazon India, Walmart and Paytm Mall gearing up to take the dominant position amidst the Indian online consumer.
