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Paytm

Indian FintechFinancial TechnologyFounded 2010
Reviewed by Swet Parvadiya
Company data updated: October 2026

Founders

Who Founded Paytm?

Vijay Shekhar Sharma · Founded 2010 · HQ today: Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India

Who founded Paytm?

Paytm was founded by Vijay Shekhar Sharma in 2010. It is now led by Vijay Shekhar Sharma.

Founders
Vijay Shekhar Sharma
Founded
2010
Headquarters
Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
Number of founders
1
Current CEO
Vijay Shekhar Sharma (since 2010)
Where was Paytm founded?
Paytm was founded in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India in 2010.
When was Paytm founded?
Paytm was founded in 2010.
Who started Paytm?
Paytm was founded by Vijay Shekhar Sharma.
How old is Paytm?
Paytm is 16 years old as of 2026.

Founding Story

Vijay Shekhar Sharma founded One97 Communications in 2000 to sell mobile content services to telecom operators. In 2010 he launched Paytm as a prepaid mobile recharge website, added a wallet in 2014, and saw usage surge after India withdrew ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes on November 8, 2016, when Paytm ran front-page ads the next morning urging people to pay digitally.

Vijay Shekhar Sharma

Co-founder 2010

Background

Electronics and communications engineer from Delhi College of Engineering; built early web businesses before founding One97 Communications, a mobile value-added services company, in 2000.

Role at Paytm

Vijay Shekhar Sharma is an Indian entrepreneur who founded One97 Communications in 2000 and launched Paytm in 2010. He took Paytm from a recharge website to a wallet, then to merchant QR codes and the Soundbox, led its 2021 IPO, and steered it through the 2024 RBI action on Paytm Payments Bank to a full-year profit in FY26.

Vijay Shekhar Sharma was born in 1978 in Aligarh. Education: Delhi Technological University.

Sharma was born on June 7, 1978. In January 2022 the Universal Acceptance Steering Group named him its Universal Acceptance Ambassador in India.

Paytm: CEO & Leadership History

Full timeline →

Vijay Shekhar Sharma

Founder, MD & CEO

2010 – Present

Born in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, Sharma graduated in engineering from Delhi College of Engineering. His tenacity established mobile QR code transactions across millions of Indian street vendors and small merchants.

Madhur Deora

President & Group CFO

Senior finance executive who led Paytm's investor communication through the 2024 RBI restructuring and the FY26 return to profit.

Keep researching Paytm

Who Founded Paytm? FAQ

Who founded Paytm and One97 Communications?

Vijay Shekhar Sharma is the sole founder of One97 Communications Limited (founded in 2000) and the Paytm brand (launched in 2010).

What early financial struggles did founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma face in Delhi?

In the early 2000s, after a partner left with funds, Sharma was left with ₹10 in his pocket, walking long distances in Delhi to save bus fare and skipping meals. He built websites and set up telecom servers to keep One97 alive until it achieved profitability.

Who were the early venture capital backers of One97 Communications and Paytm?

Early institutional backers included SAIF Partners (now Elevation Capital, led by Ravi Adusumalli), who invested in One97 in 2007, followed by landmark investments from Alibaba Group and Ant Financial in 2015, SoftBank Vision Fund in 2017 ($1.4B), and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway in 2018.

How did Vijay Shekhar Sharma convince his board to fund the launch of Paytm in 2010?

When One97's board initially hesitated to fund a consumer payments startup, Sharma put his personal equity on the line, offering to fund the project from his own pocket to prove that mobile digital payments would transform India.

What role did Ant Financial and Alibaba play in Paytm's early technology scaling?

Ant Financial provided crucial technical architecture and distributed computing expertise from Alipay, helping Paytm scale its backend server infrastructure to handle millions of concurrent transactions during the 2016-2017 digital payments boom.

How did Vijay Shekhar Sharma reduce foreign ownership in One97 Communications post-IPO?

In 2023, Vijay Shekhar Sharma orchestrated an agreement to acquire a 10.3% stake from Antfin (Netherlands) Holding B.V. through his 100% owned entity Resilient Asset Management, reducing Chinese equity ownership and becoming the largest shareholder with 19.42% voting power.

What core corporate values did Vijay Shekhar Sharma establish at Paytm?

Sharma established a culture centered on 'Speed, Simplicity, and Trust', encouraging engineers to build products that work smoothly on low-cost Android phones and low-bandwidth networks across rural India.

How does Vijay Shekhar Sharma's story inspire the Indian startup ecosystem?

Rising from a small-town Hindi-medium school to building a multi-billion-dollar publicly listed tech leader, Vijay Shekhar Sharma is widely regarded as a trailblazer of India's modern startup revolution and digital public infrastructure.

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Content is for informational purposes only. Not financial advice. Data sourced from SEC filings, annual reports, and public records. See our full disclaimer and methodology.