Amazon Pay to acquire Tapzo

Amazon Pay, the payments arm of Amazon India, will acquire Sequoia-backed Tapzo as the e-commerce giant looks to strengthen its play in the country's growing digital payments space.

According to sources close to the development, the deal values Tapzo at about USD 35-40 million. They did not wish to be identified as the matters are private.

When contacted, an Amazon spokesperson did not comment on the deal but said: "Our commitment to the vision of a less-cash India remains the same. Our goal is to make it easier than ever before for customers to make digital payments by improving the customer experience, affordability and daily routines".

Response could not be elicited from the Tapzo team.

Tapzo has undergone multiple name changes since its launch in 2010 -- from Akosha to Helpchat and then finally Tapzo in 2016. The Bengaluru-headquartered startup had raised Rs 100 crore in funding from Sequoia India and Ru-Net in May 2015, followed by another round of an undisclosed amount led by American Express Ventures.

Currently, it allows users to buy services from about 35 companies -- across segments like food delivery, cab hailing and bus ticket booking -- on its platform. It claims to have a userbase of over five million users.

Amazon has been expanding its play in the payments ecosystem in the country. Earlier this year, it invested USD 22 million (about Rs 144 crore) in digital lending firm Capital Float, as well as USD 12 million in digital insurance startup, Acko. It has also reportedly invested in digital payments start-up, ToneTag.