E-commerce major Flipkart has raised $ 3.6 billion in a new round of funding from a number of investors as the company plans to expand online shopping in India to better match rival Amazon and a few other well-known companies to compete who have entered the field.
Some of the companies that have invested in the e-commerce giant include Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, SoftBank Vision 2 Fund, Walmart, and others. After the fundraising, the company’s valuation has risen to $ 37.6 billion.
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Other sovereign wealth funds like DisruptAD, Khazanah Nasional Berhad and marquee investors Tencent, Willoughby Capital, Antara Capital, Franklin Templeton and Tiger Global also participated in the new funding round, The Economic Times reported.
It should be noted that this was the first time Flipkart raised capital from outside investors. It also marks Softbank’s comeback as an investor in the company after exiting Flipkart in 2018. SoftBank had invested $ 2.5 billion in Flipkart and sold its stake in Walmart for $ 4 billion.
Walmart acquired Flipkart for $ 16 billion in 2018 and invested another $ 1.2 billion in the company in 2020. Flipkart was valued at just under $ 25 billion at the time.
FINANCING BOOST TO EXPAND OPERATIONS
The new round of funding comes at a time when the e-commerce sector in India is experiencing increased competition following the Covid-19 pandemic.
Flipkart plans to use the fresh capital to expand its online activities including groceries and fashion and to improve its supply chain and logistics network.
Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO of Flipkart Group, said, “This investment by leading global investors reflects the promise of digital commerce in India and their belief in Flipkart’s ability to maximize that potential for all stakeholders.”
“As we serve our consumers, we will focus on accelerating growth for millions of Indian small and medium-sized businesses, including kiranas. We will continue to invest in new categories and use the technology made in India to transform the consumer experience and develop a world class supply chain, ”he added.
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