Paytm parent One97 Communications buys fintech app Balance

One97 Communications Ltd has acquired the operator of fintech application Balance, as the parent of digital payments company Paytm looks to grow its financial services business.

Bengaluru-based Balance Technology Pvt. Ltd's six-member team has joined the Paytm product and design team, One97 Communications said in a statement. The team is working on enhancing Paytm’s user and merchant interfaces, it added.

Noida-based One 97 didn't disclose financial terms of the deal.

Madhur Deora, chief financial officer at Paytm, said that the Balance team has created “a fantastic product” and that the deal will help it “create customised and intuitive user experiences”. 

Balance Tech was founded in 2016 by two IIT-Kanpur graduates, Ankit Kumar and Abhishek Malik. It invests users’ money in mutual funds that have no lock-in period and offer returns of up to 8.7% a year.

In May 2017, the fintech statup had raised Rs 1.5 crore (around $233,000) from Rainmatter, a fintech fund and incubator managed by stock broking firm Zerodha.

Kumar, who is also the CEO at Balance Tech, said the startup had been building automated products to help users save and invest their money easily.

“We look forward to bring in computational intelligence, unique design and proprietary algorithms with Balance to help Paytm users accomplish more with their money,” he said.

One97 has been on a deal-making spree lately. In June, the company had acquired Delhi-based mobile technology startup Cube26 Software Pvt. Ltd.

One97, founded by Vijay Shekhar Sharma, operates digital payments and e-commerce businesses through separate entities. It has raised funding from the likes of Japan's SoftBank Group Corp, China's Alibaba Group and multi-stage investment firm SAIF Partners.

The company has expanded its financial services business through unit Paytm Payments Bank Ltd, which also houses its digital wallet. It is also starting a mutual fund distribution platform under Paytm Money Ltd.