Thu. Mar 28th, 2024
Flipkart

Today, Flipkart announced that it has raised $3.6 billion at a post-money valuation of $37.6 billion as it plans to go public as soon as early next year.

This new round of funding was led by GIC, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Walmart. It also included DisruptAD, Qatar Investment Authority, Khazanah Nasional Berhad, Tencent, Willoughby Capital, Antara Capital, Franklin Templeton and Tiger Global.

With this investment, the group which includes Flipkart, Myntra, PhonePe and Ekart under it at $37.6 billion post-money.
“This investment by leading global investors reflects the promise of digital commerce in India and their belief in Flipkart’s capabilities to maximise this potential for all stakeholders. As we serve our consumers, we will focus on accelerating growth for millions of small and medium Indian businesses, including kiranas. We will continue to invest in new categories and leverage made-in-India technology to transform consumer experiences and develop a world-class supply chain” said Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Chief Executive Officer, Flipkart Group.

In recent years, Flipkart and its competitor Amazon have bet to expand its reach. Both of them have extended support in Hindi and other vernacular languages and partnered with neighbourhood stores to grow their business exponentially.

“SoftBank’s re-investment in Flipkart is driven by our experience with and conviction in the company’s management team to continue addressing the needs of the Indian consumer in the decades to come,” said Lydia Jett, Partner, SoftBank Investment Advisers. “From our platform as one of the largest Asian eCommerce investors, SoftBank has a broad lens on the fundamental trends shaping digital commerce in the region. The opportunity to meet consumer demand for high-quality selection at low prices and a young population make online consumption critical to India’s quest for the ‘$5 trillion economies’ that Flipkart’s growth story has been enabling.”

“Flipkart is a great business whose growth and potential mirrors that of India as a whole — that’s why we invested in 2018 and why we continue to invest today,” said Judith McKenna, President and CEO of Walmart International, in a statement.

Flipkart claims over 350 million registered users across its services — including its e-commerce fashion platform Myntra have become a part of the Flipkart family across the country. “Flipkart’s logistics and supply chain arm, Ekart, employs more than 100,000 people and makes deliveries to more than 90% of the addressable pin-codes in India, which, coupled with strategic warehouse infrastructure investments, is one of the group’s core strengths. Venturing into the social commerce space, Flipkart recently announced the launch of Shopsy, which will encourage local entrepreneurship,” the firm said.

Flipkart’s parent Walmart, which made an investment in the company in 2018 by acquiring the majority stake, also participated in this new series of rounds.

“Kalyan and the team have put the Indian customer at the center of everything and they have continued to innovate in the categories and services Indian customers want most, creating new jobs and growth opportunities for Indian entrepreneurs and small businesses alongside them”, said Judith McKenna, President and CEO – Walmart International.

300,000+ registered sellers are on Flipkart’s marketplace from across India, and 60 per cent of customers are from tier 2 cities and beyond. Flipkart has more than 1.6 million kiranas stores in India that do business with them through its wholesale business and its last-mile delivery program.

By Harshita Sharma

I bring to you updates from business, policy and economy spectrum.

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