Monday 20 April 2015

Paytm, Zomato to hit $1bn valuation this year: Report

Two Indian companies — Alibaba-backed mobile marketplace One97 Communications that runs digital wallet service Paytm, and restaurant discovery startup Zomato — are among 16 globally that have entered the $1-billion valuation league this year, according to New York-based venture capital tracker CB Insights.

Of the remaining 14, 12 are from the US and one each from China and the UK. Five other Indian companies hit Unicorn status — the term used for those valued at $1 billion or more — before this year. These include e-commerce players Flipkart and Snapdeal, cab aggregator Ola, data analytics firm Mu Sigma and mobile ad tech venture InMobi.

But not everyone's buying the $1-billion valuation yet. Some investors TOI spoke to put Zomato's valuation in the $750-800 million range and Paytm's at about $800 million.

Ravi Gururaj, chairman of Nasscom Product Council, said he was not at all surprised to see One97 and Zomato scale past the $1-billion mark. "Each has plenty of headroom to grow. These valuations clearly reflect India's improved macro political and economic environment. It anticipates huge positive impact of growth in mobile usage and tectonic shifts in consumer willingness to transact online," he said.

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