Paytm is an Indian electronic payment and e-commerce company based out of Delhi NCR, India. Paytm was founded and incubated by One97 Communications Limited in 2010 as a prepaid mobile recharge website. The company is founded by Vijay Shekhar Sharma. Payments firm Paytm has registered 200 million users for its digital wallet, reaching a milestone few other internet companies have in India. Paytm is funded by Alibaba and already holds a stake in Snapdeal, the scene is set for its arch rival Tencent — which recently invested in e-commerce giant Flipkart — to grab a piece of India’s payment landscape.
Mobikwik, founded in 2009 that provides a mobile phone based payment system and digital wallet. Customers add money to an online wallet that can be used for making payments. In 2013 the the Reserve Bank of India authorized the company’s use of the MobiKwik wallet, and in May 2016 the company began providing small loans to consumers as part of its service. The company launched its MobiKwik Lite mobile app in November 2016, designed for users of older 2G mobile networks and for those in areas with poor internet connectivity. MobiKwik launched an e-wallet system in 2012 that enabled users to deposit money online to use for bill payments and other features. The Company is owned and run by husband and wife team ,Bipin Preet Singh and Upasna Taku Singh.Mobikwik has above 32 million wallet users.
Now this Gurugram-based company aims to increase the number of users almost five-fold within two years and says it is set to cross $2 billion in transactions this year. The company co-owner, Upasna Taku has revealed about the raise $100 million-$150 million in a round that would value the company at more than $1 billion. The name of the Investors hasn’t revealed yet ,only information expressed is that they include one major strategic investor and a number of financial institutions. The plan is to invest as much as $45 million of the capital on growing user and merchant bases, and expand its current base of six offices to more than 20. Investors aside, that valuation would be notable for MobiKwik, and India’s startup scene itself. The round could double MobiKwik’s funding to date, which stands at just over $125 million. However, it would remain the underdog in its battle. Paytm has risen to become India’s second highest-valued private tech firm — behind only Flipkart — with a valuation of $7 billion following a huge $1.4 billion investment from SoftBank and a $200 million round led by Alibaba.
Due to Demonetization in November 2016, 85% of the total currency was removed from the economic circulation , which gave boost to e-commerce, where Paytm was the biggest hit. In the immediate aftermath, traffic grew 435 percent, downloads jumped 200 percent and overall transactions increased by 250 percent. The firm finished the year with 177 million mobile wallet customers — up from 122 million a year earlier — and it went on to cross the 200 million mark at the end of February.Also for Mobikwi claims to have ridden the wave of demonetization. Taku said its registered userbase jumped from 25 million to 55 million, while its merchant base rose to 1.5 million from 250,000 before demonetization and downloads rose ive-fold . MobiKwik’s ambitious target is to sustain that growth and reach 100 million users and 10 million merchants in the next year. In order to make Profit ,the company has announced the latest deal with BSNL ,the state-owned Telecom Operators to gives its 95 million customers basic financial services via a co-branded wallet app.
Presently, the Mobikwik service processes $2 billion in annual GMV — that’s the overall value of transactions — but it is aiming to reach $10 billion by the end of this year. By the end of 2017, Mobikwik aims to beat Paytm and rule the e-commerce market.
