On Thursday, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, CEO, and founder, Paytm announced the investment of Rs 10 crore for mini-app developers on the Paytm Mini App Store. The platform was unveiled recently by the fintech giant days after the company accused Google of being unfair for charging 30 percent commission along with other startups.
For mini-app developers in this country, we are announcing a Rs 10 crore investment fund. This implies that individuals who want to create mini-apps on our platform will now have an investment in equity. And one of the most lenient investment terms you can foresee will be these investment terms, ”Sharma said at a digital conference.
The platform does not charge the mini-app developers any listing fee for the applications and provides free payment avenues such as Paytm Wallet, Paytm Payments Bank, and UPI. On credit cards, however, a two percent penalty would be imposed.
Sharma has been very outspoken against the decision by Google to charge a commission of 30 percent. Before Google brings any charging obligations to Indian developers, the Paytm Mini App store will carry 1 million games. By the first quarter of 2021, our goal is to have 1 million applications,’ he said.
Sharma said, “You are the champions of modern technology, I call on all of you to champion mini-apps,” while giving shoutouts to developers from all over India who joined the conference. “Sharing his ambitious target, the founder of Paytm said he aims to achieve” at least one million mini-apps “to avoid” the victimization of 30 percent charges that Google imposes on us all.
Sharma referred to Google’s Play Store policies that involve the use of its in-app payment system by app developers selling digital products, giving each transaction a 30 percent commission to the tech giant.
A community of founders in India, led by Sharma, came together to call for the breakup of the Google-Apple duopoly in the Indian app store. Google delayed the implementation of this policy to April 2022 after the furor.
If India wants to keep its place as the next global superpower, Sharma said, then it must begin to be a pioneer in its digital ecosystem.
Also present at the webinar were Vishal Gondal of GOQii, Anand Lunia, General Partner-India Quotient, and GSF Accelerator Founder, Rajesh Sawhney.
Gondal praised Sharma ‘s initiative and said this was “a campaign start”
Whenever anyone uses the Mini App Store … “(They say) I want to stay free and make my own choice,” said Gondal.
At the case, the founders present did not mince their language. Murugavel Janakiraman, the founder of Bharat Matrimony, repeatedly said, “Free the internet from Google’s failures.”
