Online payment and shopping site Paytm is close to raising between $300 million and $350 million (approximately Rs 2,000 crore to Rs 2,350 crore), Mint reported on Monday. Investors such as MediaTek, Goldman Sachs and Temasek are said to be in talks with the One97 Communications Ltd, which runs Paytm. Foxconn of Taiwan, GIC Pte from Singapore and Chinese investor Fosun are also likely to participate in the funding round, along with Alibaba Group and SAIF Partners, which have already invested in the startup.

Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma (pictured above) has refused to comment on the matter so far. However, officials involved told the Economic Times that the new funding round would push its valuation to $5 billion (approximately Rs 33,000 crore). In its last round of funding, which took place in June, the company was valued at $2.3 billion (Rs 15,448 crore). The deal is expected to be finalised within the next two months. If it goes through, it will be the highest amount any startup in India has raised this year.

The funds are likely to be used for the company’s payments business, a payments bank it plans to set up and its online shopping arm. This comes at a time when other Indian startups in the same space are struggling to raise funds, giving Paytm a strong chance to take on rivals Amazon and Flipkart. Moreover, Alibaba Group, the Chinese e-commerce major that owns a 40% stake in the company, is expected to use Paytm’s online shopping portal to launch its services in India.