One97 owns Paytm, a digital wallet and payments platform with 230 million registered users. The company has recently been expanding beyond payments into mobile services, adding a messenger and games with the aim of becoming a broader communications and services platform. Paytm’s investor base includes SoftBank and Alibaba; SoftBank led a $450 million round earlier this year. Reports say Berkshire Hathaway has agreed to buy shares in One97, reflecting renewed investor interest at a multi‑billion dollar valuation. A spokesperson for One97 declined to comment on the reports. One97 Communications operates Paytm, India’s leading mobile payments platform and owner of an online commerce business. Paytm reports more than 23 million users. The company says it will use the new investment to grow its mobile payments platform and acquire more users for its online commerce business. Ant Financial — which runs Alipay (claimed 190 million users) and was spun off from Alibaba in 2011 — will take a 25% stake in One97 under a strategic agreement. The firms cite India’s rapidly growing e‑commerce market (Gartner estimates it will reach $6 billion this year, a 70% increase over 2014) as a key opportunity. Alibaba co‑founder Jack Ma has also said he is interested in making more investments in India. One97 Communications Limited is India’s pioneering mobile Internet services company that runs a large consumer-facing mobile marketing and commerce platform. In August 2011 more than 450 million mobile users used One97’s platform for conducting transactions, and the company serves millions of users every day. One97 plans to leverage its mobile-ecosystem expertise to create dominance in mobile Internet marketing and commerce and to expand operations in emerging mobile markets. The company is expanding services to other developing countries in South Asia and Africa and intends to use SAP’s ecosystem to extend its global reach. One97 is described in the announcement as one of the largest consumer Internet companies by revenue in India and is backed by marquee investors including Intel Capital, SAIF Partners, SAP Ventures and Silicon Valley Bank.

Total raised

$350M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Aug 2018