Mobile commerce firm Paytm today said Tata Group Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata has invested an undisclosed amount in the company.
His investment in Paytm is in his personal capacity, the m-commerce firm said in a statement.
“I am very happy that Mr Tata has put faith and trust in our values and mission. There is no better advisor than him to help us build India’s most trusted mobile payment and commerce platform,” Paytm Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said.
Tata had also made personal investments in homegrown e-commerce players like Snapdeal and Urban Ladder last year.
Market analysts said though investments made by Tata in Paytm, Snapdeal and Urban Ladder are not substantial, but it indicates the way investors are looking for growth in the burgeoning e-commerce market in India.
“Investors are increasingly looking at the penetration of mobile Internet and the way it can transform the market in terms of shopping, paying bills and banking,” an analyst said.
The investment by Tata comes after the world’s biggest e-commerce firm Alibaba announced last month that it will acquire 25 per cent stake in One97 Communications, Paytm’s parent firm.
Paytm aims to grow the number of mobile wallets to 100 million by year-end from 25 million active wallets at present.
“Our average wallet balance is Rs 150 and we do 1 million transactions a day across Paytm app and other merchants (like Uber, Bookmyshow etc),” Paytm said.
Paytm wallet allows consumers to purchase mobile recharges, tickets, deals and shop across 18,000 merchants. It is available across mobile apps like Uber, Bookmyshow, MakeMyTrip and Foodpanda.