Alibaba and Ant Financial services Tuesday announced an agreement under which the companies will make a strategic investment in Paytm, which bills itself as India’s largest mobile payment and commerce platform.

Ant Financial made its initial investment in Paytm in February 2015, while Alibaba will become a new investor after the completion of the transaction. One97 Communications is the parent company of Paytm.

Paytm said in a press release that the investment will help it to achieve scale and develop new products.

"Paytm is building India's most dominant mobile payment and commerce ecosystem. With the Alibaba and Ant Financial partnerships, we look to bring half a billion Indians to the mainstream economy and help millions of small businesses leverage this large m-commerce opportunity," said Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder and CEO of Paytm. "This investment by Alibaba and Ant Financial is a reaffirmation of their belief and commitment to the long term Paytm opportunity."