Paytm is an Indian e-commerce payment system and financial technology company.
From being a small-town boy from Aligarh who bought second-hand tech magazines to the founder of one of India’s most trusted technology brands, Vijay Shekhar Sharma has come a long way. Vijay was an exceptional student, passing secondary school at the early age of 14. However, due to his poor English proficiency, Vijay couldn’t sit for the IIT entrance and other competitive exams. Later in college, he had to simultaneously read two books — one in Hindi, the other in English to understand the course material. His English proficiency meant he could hardly understand what was taught in class. This led him to spend a lot of time in the Computer Room, browsing the internet and dreaming about being in Silicon Valley, the mecca for worldwide innovation.
While most of young and bright engineering graduates were excited about the prospect of being placed, Vijay had built his first company- ‘XS Communications’, a college-based startup that created Content Management Systems. By then, he had learnt to code all by himself and had designed a Content Management System that was being used by several major publications including The Indian Express. In 1997, while in college, he started the website indiasite.net, and sold it two years later for $1 million. Vijay passed out of Delhi College of Engineering at an early age of 19. He also started a company with hus
In 2000 he started one97 Communications which offers mobile content including news, cricket scores, ringtones, jokes and exam results. While trying to set up One97, Vijay ended up with a loan in 2005. This forced him to take up petty jobs to make ends meet, setting up LAN connections, delivering guest lectures and so on to pay debt. While India’s telecom infrastructure was improving in 2010, no investors were confident about the idea of a mobile-first consumer service that would cater to the masses. So he personally put $2 Mn at stake to finally launch Paytm.
In November 2016, the Indian government announced one of the biggest ever demonetization moves on the earth in which the high-value currency notes were withdrawn. This measure intended to crack down the black money market, illegal money laundering and terrorist funding, had also struck a severe blow on a large number of businesses. While demonetization slashed away the cash worth billions of dollars within a very short period of time, a huge segment of the population turned towards digital payments. This move gave a big boost to PayTM which gained tremendously from demonetization and spurted to growth.
