Binny Bansal on Saturday bid goodbye to Flipkart, the e-commerce start-up that he had founded along with Sachin Bansal in 2007.
Bansal officially resigned from the board of the now Walmart-owned firm. The US retail giant had acquired a 77 per cent controlling stake in Flipkart through a $16 billion deal in 2018.
The end of Bansal’s association with Flipkart comes after he recently floated a start-up OppDoor that provides end-to-end solutions to e-commerce firms. It is learnt that his exit from the e-commerce firm is to avoid any form of conflict with the new venture. Co-founder Sachin Bansal (who is not related to Binny) had quit the Flipkart board in 2018 after which he set up Navi, which offers financial services.
“I am proud of the Flipkart group’s achievements over the past 16 years. Flipkart is in a robust position, with a strong leadership team and a clear path forward, and with this confidence, I have decided to step aside, knowing the company is in capable hands. I wish the team the best as they continue to transform experiences for customers, and I remain a strong supporter of the business,” Bansal said.
Last year, he along with some of Flipkart’s early investors that included Tiger Global and Accel had fully exited the company by selling their remaining stakes. Walmart had then reportedly paid $1.4 billion to acquire Tiger Global’s stake valuing Flipkart at $35 billion. Bansal had received $650 million as he completely divested his residual stake which was estimated at around 1.5 per cent.
“We are thankful for Binny’s partnership over the past several years as the Flipkart group has grown and entered into new businesses. His insights have been invaluable to the board and the company. Flipkart is the outcome of a great idea and a lot of hard work, built by teams committed to transforming how India shops.
“We wish Binny the best as he embarks on his next venture and thank him for the deep impact he has enabled for the Indian retail ecosystem.” Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO and Flipkart board member, said.
According to the latest report from AllianceBernstein, Flipkart continues to dominate the e-commerce segment in India with a 48 per cent market share, while Softbank-backed Meesho has emerged as the fastest growing e-commerce platform in terms of user base.
The report pointed out that Flipkart’s user base grew 21 per cent year-on-year, while Meesho gained at the rate of 32 per cent. Amazon lagged at 13 per cent user growth primarily due to relative premium offerings compared to peers.
“As of 2022-23, Flipkart was the market leader, with a 48 per cent share in India eCommerce. Flipkart continues to grow faster than the industry... Mobile and apparel are the largest categories for Flipkart with 50 per cent and 30 per cent mix. Flipkart is estimated to hold a 48 per cent and a 60 per cent market share in online smartphone and online fashion market, respectively,” the report said.
