Capital Is Moat, Whether Private or Public Doesn't Matter: Paytm's Vijay Shekhar Sharma

Public listing is not needed to raise capital if one is able to get it through the private market, Patym founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma said on Friday. "Capital is moat, be it public or private", he said when asked about the right approach that a startup company should have to get listed on the bourses.

“I think access to capital can be a moat, (be it) public or private. I don't think there is a differentiation,” Sharma said.

He said that in the long term, every company needs capital and listing may not ne the way every time. He said what matters is the access to capital and the size of it.

“For example, Flipkart was able to raise billions in five years. At that point of time, even the public (companies) was not getting well. The mean is the capital, the method could be any,” he said.

Paytm had launched its over Rs 18,000 crore initial public offering in November 2021. It was listed on the bourses in 2021 at a discounted price of Rs 1,950. The stock has since seen a decline. The fall was exacerbated in February last year after banking regulator the Reserve Bank of India had restricted the operations of Paytm Payments Bank.

Even after listing, it is important to meet investors to create a demand of the company’s shares when a supply comes in the future, said Alok Bansal, co-founder and executive vice chairman of PB Fintech, who was also present during the panel discussion.

The panel discussion ‘From Brainwave to billions - decoding the scale playbook of India's Fintech Giants’ also included other fintech startup executives such as Navi chairman Sachin Bansal, Zerodha vice president Dinesh Pai, and Jupiter founder & CEO Jitendra Gupta.