The ecommerce arm of Indian fintech giant Paytm has raised $445 million from Japan's Softbank and China's Alibaba. Softbank is pumping $400 million into Paytm Mall, while Alibaba is contributing $45 million - a year after it took a majority stake in the unit through a $177 million investment. The deal values Paytm at nearly $2 billion, with Alibaba holding a 46% stake and Softbank a 21% slice. With its huge mobile payments userbase and Alibaba's ecommerce nous, Paytm Mall is aiming to become a major player in India's ecommerce sector, taking on the likes of Amazon and FlipKart. Says a Softbank statement: "We believe Paytm Mall’s offline-to-online operating model, combined with the strength of the Paytm ecosystem, is uniquely positioned to enable India’s 15 million offline retail shops to participate in India’s e-commerce boom."
Paytm Mall, the e-commerce business of Softbankn financial services firm Paytm, has been valued at almost $2bn after a $445m investment from Softbank and Alibaba. Investing $400m and $45m, Softbank and Alibaba's stakes in Paytm Mall increase to 21% and 46% respectively. Paytm Mall is looking to rival Flipkart and Amazon, using an offline-to-inline approach and its parent company's payments ecosystem to target Softbank's 15 million offline retailers.