Early investors of Paytm Mall, Alibaba and Ant Financial, have sold their stake in the firm back to Paytm E-commerce for $5.6 million (INR 42 crore).
Jack Ma’s firms have left India’s Paytm Mall
With reports of Alibaba and Ant Financial selling their combined 43% shares in the company, the Indian firm’s valuation has fallen from $3 billion in 2020 to $13 million today, a drop of around 99%.
According to Mint, the reasons cited for the exit included the evolving online business space in India, the pandemic and wider competition.
Paytm Mall last raised $445 million in April 2018 in a round led by SoftBank and Alibaba at a then-valuation of $1.9 billion.
Paytm Mall had raised nearly $800 million from investors such as eBay, SoftBank and Jack Ma’s Alibaba.
Paytm Mall said in a statement that it will “pivot” to Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) – which aims to democratise the purchase and sale of goods in the Indian market.
“We are set to build on the revolutionary ONDC program by the Government of India to drive online commerce in India. We also plan to explore opportunities in the export market,” a Paytm Mall spokesperson says.
