NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

If one were to table a list of the happiest entrepreneurs in 2016, Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma would undoubtedly be on top.

The mobile wallet company has been the single-largest beneficiary of the government’s move to ban currency notes of R500 and 1,000. Ever since the decision was announced on November 8, Paytm’s user base has touched 160 million — more than the population of Russia.

MobiKwik, Paytm’s second-largest competitor, is one fourth its size.

Paytm has become a verb — Paytm karo (Do Paytm). “I don’t need to sleep, this is a dream that I am living while trying to solve the pain of people,” said Sharma.