First Freshworks, and now Paytm: IPOs are making millionaires of the employees of Indian tech firms going public. According to a Reuters report, about 350 employees of Indian fintech firm Paytm are now crorepatis, after the One 97 Communications-run company made a strong debut on the Indian stock market.
Paytm’s IPO was over-subscribed 1.89 times with bids received for 9.14 crore equity shares against the offer size of 4.83 crore shares. At Rs 18,300 crore ($2.5 billion), the IPO is the largest of a fintech firm in the Asia-Pacific region.
Around 350 current and former employees have a net worth of at least one crore rupees, Paytm cited company sources.
Paytm benefited from the surge in digital transactions in India, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. In March, the company logged 1.2 billion monthly transactions.
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However, Paytm aims to be more than a digital payments facilitator. The company is working on a “super app” which it reportedly plans to launch by end of year. It joins Tata and Reliance in attempting to make a single app that can be a point-of-call for users looking to make payments, book flights, order food, avail financial service or more. The super app model was particularly successful in China, where WeChat and AliPay have become part of life.
Critics of Paytm’s high listing price pointed out that the company had strong competitors in every segment it competes it, from digital payments (Google Pay, PhonePe) to superapps.
Paytm was founded in 2011 by Vijay Shekhar Sharma, whose net worth on the Forbes Rich List India is now at $2.4 billion. The company is also a loss-making one, though it has narrowed this in FY21, with a consolidated loss of Rs 1,704 crore according to its annual report.
