Flipkart has raised $3.6 billion (Rs 26,845 crore) in a fresh funding round, valuing the e-tailer at $37.6 billion (Rs 2.81 lakh crore). The infusion saw the participation of Walmart and others, including SoftBank.
The funding will give Flipkart more teeth to fight against JioMart and Amazon in the domestic market.
The pandemic has seen more people buying online and this is one of the reasons that has prompted SoftBank to re-enter Flipkart. The Japanese conglomerate had invested in Flipkart in 2017 and then sold its stake a year later to Walmart.
After this round, Flipkart is ranked among the top 10 global e-commerce companies in terms of market cap along with entities such as Amazon, Alibaba and Shopify.
The funding round was led by financial investors GIC, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Walmart, along with investments from sovereign funds DisruptAD, Qatar Investment Authority and Khazanah Nasional Berhad.
Marquee investors such as Tencent, Willoughby Capital, Antara Capital, Franklin Templeton and Tiger Global also participated.
The details of the individual investments made by these entities were not disclosed, but it is learnt that CPP Investments brought in about $800 million, while SoftBank has invested around $500 million.
“This (latest) 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. We will focus on accelerating growth for millions of small and medium Indian businesses, including kiranas,’’ Flipkart group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy said.
