Meet man who sold his first venture for Rs 80000000, now runs Rs 42467 crore company as...

A young man from Aligarh, who once struggled with his English in a Hindi-medium school, would one day change the way millions of Indians handle money. Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s journey from a small-town boy to a tech mogul seemed unlikely, but fate had other plans when demonetization in 2016 catapulted his digital payment app, Paytm, into the spotlight. Yet, his story doesn't end with the success of a single app—there’s much more to the man who built one of India’s largest digital payment systems.

Growing up, Sharma attended a Hindi-medium school, and the language barrier became a significant hurdle when he began his higher education at Delhi Technology University (DTU). His struggles with English led him to fail in some subjects, but his determination to succeed kept him going. With help from friends and his relentless pursuit of mastering the language, Sharma overcame his weaknesses, dreaming of making it big in the tech world.

While still a student at DTU, he launched his first business venture, a website called indiasite.net, which he later sold for $1 million. This success set the stage for what would become his greatest innovation—Paytm.

In 2010, Sharma founded Paytm under the umbrella of One97 Communications, initially offering mobile recharges and bill payments. It wasn’t until the demonetization policy in 2016 that his fortunes truly soared. With the Indian government pushing for a cashless economy, millions turned to digital wallets, and Paytm became the go-to app for transactions. This moment was a turning point, as the app gained nationwide prominence and became synonymous with digital payments in India.

The introduction of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) by the government only further solidified Paytm’s role in the digital economy. Sharma's support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India campaign helped catapult the platform to new heights. By 2018, Paytm attracted the attention of global investors, receiving Rs 2519 crore in funding from Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.

Sharma's ambitions didn’t stop at digital payments. In 2019, he launched Paytm Payments Bank, aiming to provide banking services to over 500 million Indians. Despite fierce competition from Google Pay and PhonePe, Paytm remains one of the top digital payment platforms in the country. Paytm's Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) surged, reaching Rs 13.2 lakh crore in the financial year 2022-23.

As of 2024, Paytm's market capitalization stands at Rs 42467 crore. Forbes included Vijay Shekhar Sharma in its 2022 list of billionaires, estimating his net worth at Rs 10078 crore.

Vijay Shekhar is inspired by industry legends like Alibaba’s Jack Ma and Softbank’s Masayoshi Son, whose entrepreneurial paths have influenced his own. Sharma is married to Mridula Parashar, and they have one child, continuing to live by the values of hard work and resilience that have guided him since his humble beginnings.