PayTM Mall aims to raise $600 million capital for acquisitions and strategic investments

PayTM Mall, the ecommerce arm of the digital payment services firm Ant Financials, is looking to raise ~INR4,000 Crore ($600 million) by the end of current year. The firm, in which China’s Alibaba and its payments affiliate Ant Financial own a majority stake, is in direct competition with the two biggies of Indian ecommerce industry i.e. Amazon and Flipkart. It had also raised $200 million earlier this year from Alibaba Group and venture fund SAIF Partners. PayTM have been scouting aggressively for acquisitions and strategic investments in the Indian ecommerce space. It is also planning to invest in logistics space.

The ecommerce unit has lined up INR1,000 crore to spend on marketing, cashback and promotions during September-October. It is targeting sales of INR3,200 crore ($500 million) during the festive season and a $4 billion gross merchandise volume (GMV) run rate by end of the year. Anup Jain, founder of consulting firm Redback Advisory Services, said that “The attempt is to become a credible marketplace after Flipkart and Amazon India. That’s what their strategy is around. Snapdeal will not be able to match Paytm Mall because of a shortage of funds. Therefore, the latter will be able to get a larger share of the market.”