Paytm, an India-based payments company, has raised $1bn in a new funding round led by US-based T Rowe Price. The fresh funds bring the company’s valuation to nearly $16bn.

The equity financing round was also joined by Ant Financial, Softbank Vision Fund, and Discovery Capital, among others.

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According to Paytm’s parent company One97 Communications CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma, SoftBank invested $200m, while Ant Financial contributed $400m.

Paytm plans to use the funds to expand its payments and financial services in rural parts of India.

Initially, the company worked to boost the adoption of its QR-code technology in stores. The service is said to be currently available in more than 2,000 towns and cities across 650 districts.

The company also aims to facilitate the mobile-enabled financial services in rural regions of the country.

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Paytm added plans to expand in consumer internet space, while introducing financial services such as lending, insurance, investments and stockbroking.

Sharma added: “At Paytm, we are committed to bringing half a billion Indians to the mainstream economy by onboarding them in the formal financial ecosystem.

“This new investment by our current and new investors is a reaffirmation of our commitment to serve Indians with new-age financial services.”

The company intends to invest INR100bn ($1.39bn) over the coming three years to cater to underserved users in India.

Earlier this month, the company introduced OTP-less online and offline card payments for transactions less than INR2,000.