Paytm had led a $50 million funding round in Little back in 2015.
Paytm has fast-expanded from being a mobile wallet operator to a full-fledged e-commerce business. It now allows movie bookings, hotel and airline ticketing, gold-buying, online shopping, payments banking, digital gifting, etc. besides the core payments and recharge service. Soon, it is rumored to be getting into e-grocery as well. And now, fresh reports have emerged that the $7 billion company is in talks to acquire hyper-local deal discovery startup Little, in a bid to ramp up its offline-to-online (O2O) presence. The development was first reported by VC Circle.
Two years ago Paytm had a led a $50 million in funding Little Internet — an event that also saw participation from SAIF Partners (one of Paytm’s initial backers) and Tiger Global (which owned half of Flipkart until recently). Bengaluru-based Little offers users a curation of local, area-wise deals and offers for restaurants, salons, spas, movie theaters, hotels, and so on through a website and mobile app. Little was founded in 2015 and currently operates in 17 cities across the country. ALSO READ: Paytm might be investing in BigBasket to take on Amazon in online grocery
While the financials of the deal could not be ascertained, Paytm reckons that Little would power its deals platform and boost m-commerce transactions. Little is particularly effective for merchants listed on its platform as it offers them crucial customer intelligence that allows brands to better target their products. Paytm, which is in the process of expanding its offline merchant network, will gain ready access to Little’s existing merchant-base. Its presence in smaller towns besides the large metros is an added bonus. BGR India has reached out to Paytm for comment. ALSO READ: Paytm acquires majority stake in events ticketing platform Insider.in
Paytm has made multiple acquisitions of late that indicate its ambitions to become the “super app” on smartphones that users can’t do without — a vision propounded by its billionaire-owner Vijay Shekhar Sharma. Most recently, Paytm earned $1.4 billion in funding from Japan’s SoftBank that made it India’s second-most valued startup. It already counts China’s Alibaba as a major investor. Now, armed with huge capital, Paytm is scouting for partnerships across the spectrum from grocery to banking. Reports suggest that its newly formed e-commerce vertical, Paytm Mall, is gearing up for the festive season and will indulge customers with massive deals and discounts. If the Little acquisition is through by then, expect some offers there as well.