Paytm Mini App Developer Conference: Together Towards the Next Digital Revolution, Announcing ₹10 Crore Grant

 

Today, we are excited to embark on a new journey. A journey we hope will empower India’s indigenous developers to build the best digital solutions for our country.

Our first step on this journey began this morning with the Paytm Mini App Developer Conference — an online event that brought together some of the best minds in the technology space. It is here that we showcased our recently launched “Paytm Mini App Store” to the developer community and outlined our vision for a self-reliant Indian app ecosystem.

Announced recently, the Paytm Android Mini App Store provides listing and distribution of custom-built mobile web apps based on open source technologies like HTML & Javascript, offering a seamless app-like experience to users.

For payments, developers will have the ability to give users a choice between Paytm Wallet, Paytm Payments Bank, UPI, net-banking and Cards. Connecting with Paytm’s digital ecosystem will not only enable them to reach our 150 million monthly active users, but also help them scale their product by utilizing our suite of analytics and marketing tools.

Overwhelming Response from the Developer Community

We are delighted to share that today’s conference received a very encouraging response from the developers community, as over 5,000 developers from all corners of the country including Latur, Thrissur, Udaipur, Indore, Vadodara, Reeva, Dewas, Kochi, Farrukhabad, Ramgarh, Nashik, Patna & Aurangabad expressed their interest in being a part of the Paytm Mini App programme.

Buoyed by their enthusiasm, our Founder & CEO, Vijay Shekhar Sharma was happy to announce ₹10 Crore for developers and startups building innovative products and digital services for India.

“We are committed to developing a technology ecosystem that champions the innovations of Indian developers. We are not just backend developers, India developers can build the best apps in the world. Today, we are announcing a ₹10 crore investment fund for Mini App developers in the country. A 10 Crore equity investment with some of the most lenient investment terms that you can expect. An encouragement for our developers to port their apps or create new ones for the mini app platform.”

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The Paytm Mini-App Advantage

1. App Discovery via Paytm Homepage

Paytm Mini App Store offers direct access, discovery, browsing, and payment experience of auto-updated versions of all Mini Apps on its platform. It has more than 20 discovery points within the Paytm app with dedicated brand icons that allow users to easily access all the Mini Apps. Users also have the option to pin their favourite apps as shortcuts on their phone’s home screen.

2. Opening up technology with no developer account fee

We firmly believe that if app developers are charged a fee of 30% or more, the overall cost of their product & service will increase. This will in turn impact the price of the final product for the end-user as well, hampering the growth of the entire ecosystem and putting a roadblock in our country’s vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

Developers spend a lot of money & resources to build their apps and then marketing them. Therefore, we have decided to not charge anything for listing their app on the Paytm Mini App Store. For payments, developers have a choice of Paytm Wallet, Paytm Payments Bank, UPI, net-banking and Cards to their users. By opening up our platform, we wish to encourage developers of all kinds and backgrounds to work towards the benefit of our country.

3. Data remains with the Developer

At Paytm, privacy and data security is paramount. The Paytm Mini App platform comes with this very assurance — your users’ data is completely safe. Paytm does not have access to it at any given time.

4. Grow your Mini App user base

Developers can leverage Paytm’s promotion engine to run targeted campaigns by building cashback, coupon, discount, and loyalty programmes that increase customer acquisition, conversion and retention with personalized incentives. Paytm also offers growth tools including gamification and offers to reward their users. In order to directly engage with customers, developers can use the option of app notifications built within the mini apps digital architecture.

5. Paytm’s Payment Gateway integration for frictionless checkout 

Through our Mini App Store, accepting payments is completely seamless, fast, and secure. Paytm’s Payment Gateway integration allows a one-tap payment facility to all apps. Users have the power to pay from all digital payment methods including Paytm Wallet, Paytm Payments Bank Account, UPI as well as the largest repository of 110 million saved cards.

We also offer powerful solutions for recurring as well as pre-authorised payments which are extremely useful for subscription-based apps. Our next day bank settlements also help developers maintain a healthy cash flow.

Shreyas Srinivasan, Head — Paytm Mini Apps said, “The basic challenges for app developers in India have remained the same.You need to figure out what to build, how to build it- whether native or as a web application, and finally, how to get it discovered. We have been working really hard to make our Mini App Store available to all Indian developers. Our country is at the cusp of a massive digital revolution and we aim to democratize building apps and publishing them for all of you. We want to encourage our country’s immensely talented developers to participate in our program and build innovative digital products.”

He further added, “Our newest offering lets app developers take care of all these problems, and just get down to what they do best- Create. Initial response from developers who have already used the new mini app platform to create or upgrade their digital business, speaks for itself.”

Vikas Chauhan, Co Founder of 1mg, India’s largest digital health platform said, “The Paytm Mini App Store is really a thoughtful and structured program. The on-boarding process is seamless and it took us only a few days to get listed on the platform. We are proud to be the initial partners in this noble initiative.”

Sameer Sharma, Founder Uengage, a Business Management app said, “I see Paytm Mini App Store as a huge opportunity for companies like ours because it is a simple and low-cost model. When we launched our own mini-app, it was a pretty smooth experience and took us less than 2–3 days. We will be onboarding at least 50 new mini apps within the first month and be able to add more value to our partner’s ecosystem.”

Vijay announced his commitment to sign up as many developers as possible, across cities. In a candid, free-wheeling chat, other luminaries of the startup world also lauded Paytm’s endeavour.

Murugavel Janakiraman, Founder & CEO, Matrimony.com said, “Google’s tax is like a distributor asking for 30 percent of the sales revenue as a cut. Today, we are all at the mercy of Google. We don’t know when they will remove the apps, based on some policy that they decide. What Paytm has started is a freedom movement. The Internet in our country is controlled by Google and we all are at its mercy.