Flipkart to raise $3 billion from investors

Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart aims to raise at least $3 billion from investors including SoftBank Group Corp. and several sovereign wealth funds. The startup plans to launch an IPO next year to increase its current valuation to $40 billion. It is negotiating with Singapore’s GIC Pte, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority for the same. The potential funding could help Flipkart invest in its supply chain, technology and possible acquisitions as it battles rising competition.

The boom in India’s e-commerce market has fuelled investors’ interest in Flipkart, founded in 2007 by two former Amazon engineers and acquired by Walmart 11 years later. Walmart has since invested more than $1.5 billion in the retail platform, at the same time Amazon has pumped billions into its local business. Today, Flipkart includes the fashion retailer Myntra and Flipkart Wholesale, its digital marketplace targeted at small and medium businesses. Flipkart also owns a substantial stake in digital payments provider PhonePe.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Flipkart and its peers have expanded further into smaller Indian cities. The online retailer is increasingly seeing first-time internet users shop on Indian language versions of its service -- it currently offers 11 languages -- and also voice-enabled shopping. Its annual revenues stand at about $15 billion driven mostly by sales of electronics and fashion but, increasingly, also home furnishings, health care and groceries.