Paytm now valued at $10 billion as around 200 employees sell shares: Moneycontrol
The company has nearly doubled its valuation since August 2016.
Mobile wallet service provider Paytm is now valued at about $10 billion (Rs 63,600 crore), after around 200 of its employees sold some of their shares to new investors, Moneycontrol reported on Monday.
The sale of the employee shares means these staff liquidated their shares for around Rs 300 crore.
The company, run by One97 Communications Private Limited, has nearly doubled its valuation since August 2016, when it was valued at $5 billion (Rs 31,800 crore).
It was valued at $7 billion (Rs 44,520 crore) in May 2017 after Japanese company Softbank invested in it. Only Flipkart, at $12 billion (Rs 76,320 crore), is valued higher among Indian internet start-ups.
Companies usually give employees stake in the firm – called ESOPs, or “employee stock ownership plan” – as a benefit besides salary. “Paytmers who have been with the company since inception to as early as one year have benefited,” Paytm said in a statement.