India-based mobile internet services firm One97 Communications has set aside Rs 1.5bn ($26m) in the present quarter for corporate acquisitions focused on strengthening its mobile e-commerce platform, Paytm, according to a report by Indian newspaper Economic Times.
The potential future acquisitions will assist Paytm in increasing its market penetration among the 340 million Indians proficient in vernacular English.
One97 hopes to use a third of the funds to acquire at least two startups operating in the mobile technologies space, with the rest reserved for follow-on investments. In 2013 the company acquired Bangalore-based multilingual texting platform PlusTxt for $3.4m.
According to One97 Communications’ founder and chief executive Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the company forecasts Rs 2.5bn ($42.8m) in revenue this fiscal quarter, with an after tax profit of Rs 200m ($3.4m).