Paytm Mall has broken ties with its parent company One97 Communications, post securing funding in a round led by e-commerce firm eBay.
eBay has been a frontrunner in investing in India’s e-commerce market with the most recent 5.5 per cent stake in Paytm Mall for US $ 160 million, in July this year.
Prior to this, the e-commerce giant had invested in Flipkart in 2017 and Snapdeal in 2014. Apart from the current round of funding, Paytm Mall had successfully raised Rs. 1,510 crore in June last year, led by Japanese tech investor SoftBank and Chinese internet conglomerate Alibaba.
The company has overhauled its business strategies after separating operations from One97 Communications, according to Rudra Dalmia, Chief Financial Officer and Board Member of Paytm Mall.
After reducing its cash burn by almost a third from a whopping Rs. 200 crore last year, the company has also fully integrated its deals platform Nearbuy, acquired in December 2017, to expand its business.
Paytm has continued its path to rebuilding by forging partnerships with BigBasket and Future Group as well as launching the eBay international store with curated merchandise.
“The changes have ensured that Paytm Mall is driving traffic to its larger ecosystem,” Dalmia said. “The mission continues to be- making users transact on all Paytm products including movie ticketing, travel, games. Mall is now a big catalyst for that,” he added.
It has raised over US $ 650 million in a span of two years from Alibaba, SoftBank and SAIF Partners, all of which are existing investors in Paytm’s parent One97 Communications.
Source: https://in.apparelresources.com/