Paytm claims $15 Bn valuation in latest secondary deal

Digital Payment major Paytm valuation has gone up 25% to $15 billion in the latest round it raised from New York-based investors, according to Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma.

In May, the company's employees sold about $150 million worth Esops to US-based based investors at $15 billion, Sharma told Mint in an interview. Though, he did not disclose the name of the investor.

The whopping rise of $3 billion in valuation in the last eight months is significant for the payment firm, which claims to be contribution positive.

In September 2018, Paytm had received a $300 million investment from Warren Buffett-led Berkshire Hathaway, a deal which valued the company at $10-12 billion.

As per last media reports in March, Paytm was also in talks to raise $2 billion from its major existing investors counting Masayoshi Son led SoftBank Vision Fund and Jack Ma’s Ant Financial, the payment affiliate of Alibaba Group. Though, there are no further reports on the development.

Sharma further claimed that Paytm is spending money to acquire new merchants and customers. At present, the Noida-based payment firm has about 14 million merchants using its services.

The total online commerce at Paytm is about $45-50 billion, he added.

There is another $45-50 billion, which includes the likes of money transferred or small shop payments, where we don’t make money, said Sharma.

In June, Paytm had claimed of logging 5.5 billion transactions with a gross transaction value of over $50 billion in FY19.

Over the years, Paytm has kept expanding its array of services, which include payments, commerce, financial and academic products. However, it is still far from being profitable.

The company plans to cross Rs 20K crore GMV in its recent Education foray, where it eyes to be a one-stop-shop for parents and students seeking educational loans, scholarships, or platform to submit fees.