Paytm Raises $1.4 Billion From SoftBank to Expand User Base
A man using a mobile device stands next to a sign for the PayTM online payment method, operated by One97 Communications Ltd., at a grocery store in Delhi, India, on Friday, Nov. 25, 2016. India's government is grappling with a furor over a rupee note ban that invalidated 86 percent of the currency in circulation.
Photographer: Anindito Mukherjee/BloombergPaytm, India’s largest digital payments startup, raised $1.4 billion from SoftBank Group Corp. in the largest funding round from a single investor for the country’s technology sector.
The funding into One97 Communications, which operates the Paytm brand, will help the startup expand its user base of 220 million and build a large offering of financial services products, the company said in a emailed statement. SoftBank will join its long-time partner Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. as a major shareholder and will take a seat on the Paytm board.