Flipkart said on Monday that it had raised $3.6 billion in the next valuation of $37.6 billion a year as it was considered a pre-IPO round for the e-commerce company as it works to get listed in the public market as early as next year. Sovereign Fund Crisis led by GIC, Canada Pension Planning Board of Investment (CPP Investments), Softbank Vision Fund 2 and Walmart, Qatar Investment Authority, Treasury National Berhad, Tencent, Wilfbey Capital, Inter Capital, Franklin, and Frankl.
The investment on Monday marked the return of Softbank as a shareholder of Flipkart. Softbank began exiting in 2012 when the Bangalore-based firm sold a majority stake to Walmart for a $22 billion valuation. Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Chief Executive Officer at Flipkart Group, said in a statement, “At Flipkart, we are committed to transforming the consumer internet ecosystem in India and providing customer access and value. This investment by top global investors reflects India’s commitment to digital commerce and their belief in Flipkart’s ability to maximize this potential for all partners.”
“As we serve our customers, we will focus on accelerating the growth of millions of small and medium-sized Indian businesses, including Kiran. We will continue to invest in new segments and encouraging investments in in-India technology to transform the consumer experience and develop a world-class supply chain.” Flipkart originally came to the market earlier this year to raise money and initially tried to raise about $1 billion, TechCrunch first reported.
The Bangalore-headquartered India competes head-to-head with Amazon. American e-commerce group has invested $6.5 billion in the South Asian market. Both companies are fighting aggressively to expand their footprint in India, where physical stores continue to retail in huge quantities. Both companies are expected to be hit hard by India’s new e-commerce rules.
The e-commerce platform JioMart, a joint venture between Reliance Retail (India’s largest retail chain) and Google and Facebook-backed Jio platforms (India’s largest telecom operator), was launched last year in more than 200 cities and towns across the country. One of the fastest-growing e-commerce markets in the world is at risk as first-time Internet users start shopping online. According to Ben & Company, India’s e-commerce market is expected to reach more than 300 million customers by 2025. These buyers would buy more than $100 billion worth of items from these proposed firm platforms.
