Born & delivered up in a small town of Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh; Vijay Shekhar Sharma has risen excessive to turn out to be the Founder of the $1.5 billion PayTM.
Not handiest does Vijay hold the ownership of India’s maximum a success net commercial enterprise, but is also the Founder of One97 Communications, that's the figure organization of PayTM, and several other products like mPandit, oc2ps, Oorja, and so forth.
Being the youngest engineering graduate from Delhi College of Engineering; Energetic, informed, passionate, driven, positivity are some of the characteristics of Vijay that would strike you while you first meet him.
And these days when you look at this man who barely knew English, has long past through tough times in his university days, and had additionally almost lived on the streets with less than Rs15 in his pockets, and has risen to grow to be an epitome of authentic notion to now not simply entrepreneurs however to the loads in popular!
How did he begin his journey?
Unlike many others; Vijay’s adventure to fulfillment changed into not as clean and clean as it may be!
Being a topper of his faculty, he completed his training whilst he was simply 13-years old i.E. Two years earlier than the rest and were given admissions to the engineering college on the age of 15, once more a long way ahead of his age. Anyway, due to that, he needed to leave Aligarh and pass to the huge town of Delhi.
Now coming and dwelling in Delhi from a small city may be quite scary! Apart from the language barrier, he also needed to go through a whole lot of difficulties. And so, returned then, the biggest goal he had in mind changed into to complete engineering university and take in a job that presented a profits of Rs. 10,000.
What remains a lesser recognized reality is that; at some stage in his university days itself, Vijay had began his personal agency alongside together with his batch mater Harinder Takhar, referred to as “XS Corps” – a web answers company providing internet-guided offerings, such as internet directories, and become also a search engine!
They had commenced after receiving a seed investment well worth Rs 20,000 from an Individual Angel Investor, a New Mexico-primarily based project capital fund.
Within a yr’s time the organisation had a turnover of Rs. 50 lakhs and turned into later offered to “Living Media India” for half one million bucks (now the India Today Group).
Moving on; after finishing his university and after promoting off his employer, Vijay additionally went directly to work for nearly two years for organizations like RiverRun Software Group (Business Development), Intersolutions India Pvt Ltd (Technical Team), India Today Group Online (Technical Head), and finally Startec Global Systems, India (Chief Technical Officer).
Now even as he changed into doing that; he realised that, this become no longer his issue, he turned into intended for some thing of his very own, something which had his touch and was some distance more more!
Having stated that; he decided to do something of his own and give up his process!
Untold Story of PayTM!
One97 Communications
Now that he had left his process, he now had to discern out what precisely that he wanted to do?
He realised that the cell enterprise had an same amount of ability as the internet, it became a good sized but untapped pool. Hence, without wasting further time, with the Rs 2 Lakhs that have been left with him from the sale of his earlier enterprise, and along together with his pal and colleague, Rajiv Shukla, Vijay started out One97 Communications Ltd in 2000!
As referred to on their website; One97 is a enterprise that provides cell content and commerce services to millions of cellular consumers via India’s maximum extensively deployed telecom applications cloud platform. Basically, a mobile VAS (Value Added Service) company!
Interestingly, they determined to go together with that name because the directory enquiry service wide variety of BSNL became “197”.
Anyway, One97 turned into one of the first VAS organizations to provide services existence Astrology offerings, Music Messaging on mobiles, SMS primarily based packages & organizations, ringtones, caller-tunes, games, contests, comparable offerings on landlines, and so on!
Do you bear in mind the ones pre-cellular internet days whilst we used to buy ringtones, astrology or the sort of form of offerings??
Yeah, well One97 became the only who provided it to almost every body!!!
Also Read:- Success Story: How Two E-Commerce Gurus Build The Million Dollar Fitness Brand Cure Fit
Anyway, in a remember of few years; On97 became the fave of each sort of business which required cellular content to be promoted and at the same time the service providers cherished them too. They have been actually everywhere
The Indian marketplace changed into now becoming greater mature and had also tailored nicely with using cellular services. The net market was booming and at the identical time, the VAS market was losing significantly!
It changed into time to exchange the direction of their action, now become the time to do something a ways more bigger than they'd ever imagined!
Creation of PayTM
“CHANGE is the simplest element consistent inside the world that we live in”! Likewise, the times for the billing phase were now converting too. India become now moving from recharging or paying payments at the stores to paying for them on line!
Hence, in an try to input into the net market; Vijay below the wings of One97 Communications Launched PayTM!
It all started out whilst One97, with the help of a 4-member crew designed and launched their first ever cellular commerce platform in August 2009.
They wanted to play it safe, so returned then they initiated their product for B2B clients best. They carried this for pretty a while and shortly when their product began to receive first rate acclaim and obviously after numerous trial & errors they once more in their lucky month of August of 2010 released – “www.Paytmonline.Com”.
PayTM brief for Pay “Through Mobile” incubated by using One97 inside the maximum simplified phrases turned into nothing but a medium thru which all and sundry & all of us ought to recharge or pay majorly all their bills.
In a far cluttered net enterprise, PayTM started out as small as a bunny rabbit but on the tempo of a tortoise.
During that section, their advertising and marketing strategy completely reliant on a few month-to-month percent offers, Facebook and phrase-of-mouth; because of which they made an unnoticeable sale of about five-6k well worth recharges an afternoon.
But with the grace of hard-work and success, and after an awful lot staying power the company started creating a first rate sale of INR a hundred,000 recharges a day, that too within a span of just four-months. And to feature on to their pleasure, in addition they managed to collect the domain “www.Paytm.Com”.
Now the satisfactory aspect about this business enterprise was that it didn’t have to rely on mission capitalists for funds and could just walk upto their daddy a.Ok.A. One97 for it!
The instances had now modified and preserving up, PayTM also turned into pressured to change its techniques. They used the principal bite of budget to marketplace themselves greater aggressively however at the equal time uniquely for which they launched a couple of radio ads, launched many offers and schemes for the users and initiated internet banking. They also made a number of changes or rather enhancements to the product in order that it looked more presentable however at the equal time was similarly efficient and changes to their logo & historical past changed into an quintessential part of that idea.
Competing with the changing developments, they also launched a completely first of its type toll unfastened variety “1800-1800-1234” for recharges observed by PayTM cellular apps, and so forth.
And glaringly, with such unexpected & consumer-friendly adjustments, the traction turned into certain to boom.
By the cease of the yr they had been doing recharges really worth almost 1-Crore and had received esteemed customers like HomeShop18, DishTV, Snapdeal, and many others. To hold their increase they also elevated their staffing from 4 to round forty contributors.
Also Read:- Upasana Taku: Bringing Mobikwik to the big stage!
In the coming years, in addition they made a few top notch additions to their contemporary software, a number of which blanketed: –
Added their first ever GPS-tracking device
Added NH-8 toll-card recharge, bus ticket reserving, profits tax returns submitting and also re-launched their in advance known as GamesPind beneath Paytm Games.
Launched their most prestigious “Mobile Based Marketplace” in which one should good buy earlier than they offered it from its extra than 100,000 items from 250 merchants.
Launched their first ever first rate cool semi-closed pockets in which one ought to save cash
And many greater…
Due to such massive changes; the growth of the organization also accelerated via manifolds within the following few years! PayTM crossed Rs. 1,000 Cr. Sales in the FY13 and changed into aiming at INR 2,000 by the give up of FY14 and turned into now catering to more or less Six Million monthly users with Seven Million transactions on a month-to-month basis as properly.
PayTM had also managed to benefit 10 million cellular wallet customers inside just six months from its launch.
PayTM was now the largest digital e-commerce organisation in India and had pronounced a boom of an good sized 350% in FY13 which additionally protected a boom of their average transaction size to INR a hundred forty five from INR one hundred twenty.
And whilst you study their gift boom index; greater than 15000 merchants are the usage of their pockets, over 12 million human beings use PayTM for his or her bill payments, have over forty million wallets, have accelerated their presence to Africa, Europe, Middle East and Southeast Asia as nicely and now have local workplaces in Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Bangalore and Kolkata.
They are now the preferred mode of fee across leading purchaser internet companies which include Uber, Bookmyshow, Makemytrip.
More these days, PayTM were given their most required enhance in the E-commerce sector, while Ratan Tata – the main Indian industrialist made a personal funding in the firm.
At the identical time, what similarly added cost to their credibility become when, the enterprise obtained a $575 million investment from Chinese e-trade business enterprise Alibaba Group, and took 25% stake in One97 as a part of a strategic agreement.
Additionally; in an try to enter into the Indian marketplace Alibaba through its marketplace AliExpress, may also be list 100-Million Stock-Keeping Units (SKU) on PayTM.
Investments and Acquisitions
Over the length of years; Vijay, On97 & PayTM collectively have made pretty some investments & acquisitions, a number of which include: –
- Sourceeasy: – It is an internet platform that allows designers and brands to get their garb synthetic and added to them.
- ZAPR: – It is one of the world’s first media consumption repositories and pass-targeting systems.
- GrexIt: – It is software facilitating electronic mail collaboration through allowing customers to share e mail labels and collaborate from their inbox.
- Milaap: – It is a crowd-funding platform for causes and permits people and institutions to make a distinction to the motive they care for.
- Dexetra: – It is a developing phone software to reinforce human reminiscence and create a new measurement for self-discovery.
- TheMobileGamer (TMG): – It offers rising markets, including South East Asia and India with cell social gaming technologies.
- LeapSky Wireless: – It is a Singapore-based organization that offers 3G/Wifi based cellular statistics offerings.
- CIQUAL: – It offers Session Insight, a machine that can provide a actual-time, dynamic view of cellular broadband service and person experience.
- Jugnoo: – It is a hyperlocal market presenting everything on-demand
- Plustxt : It is a textual content messaging app optimized for Indian languages and lets in speedy text messaging in any Indian language – in addition to language keyboards. It changed into acquired through One97 Communications in 2013.
Also Read:- Vani Kola: One of the most powerful women in the country!
Achievements
- Vijay Shekhar Sharma is recognized among the maximum Innovative CEOs of 2014 by way of Inc India (2015)
- PayTM Wallet receives the “Best Digital Wallet Award” at IAMAI’ India Digital Awards (2015)
- PayTM gets identified amongst Delhi/NCR’s Top 50 Brands at a celebration by means of Paulwriter (2014)
- One97 features in Inc. India Innovative100 listing (2013)
- PayTM turned into recognized because the ‘Most Innovative Start-up of the Year’ at the Entrepreneur India event prepared via Franchise India (2012)
