Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, the largest investors in Indian startups such as Paytm and Zomato, is temporarily halting fresh investments in the country, as the Chinese e-commerce gives the huge reviews its India strategy. The four-member of the investment team in India, by Raghav Bahl, who was appointed last August from Bessemer Venture Partners, has been mandated to manage only the existing portfolio currently.
In India Jack Ma-led Alibaba has made a wide range of investment. Its portfolio includes payments firm Paytm and its e-commerce arm Paytm Mall, food delivery startup Zomato, online grocer BigBasket, online retailer Snapdeal and logistics firm Xpressbees.
However, Alibaba has disappointed at some of its biggest bets in India such as Snapdeal and Paytm Mall, which have far lagged behind the fast-growing e-commerce market dominated by Flipkart and Amazon.com.
E-commerce giant Amazon.com is also bullish on India, with significant direct investments in e-commerce, payments and logistics, as well as strategic startup investments in digital lender Capital Float, payments firm ToneTag and Binny Bansal-backed insurance startup Acko.
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Previously, Amazon.com has pumped Rs 2,800 crore into its retail unit and Rs 450 crore into its payments arm Amazon Pay, as per regulatory filings.