Days after e-tailer Flipkart announced that it had acquired leading fashion e-retailer Myntra.com , the company announced its sixth round of funding led by leading technology-focussed investor DST Global.
Sachin Bansal described the hat-tip from the “visionary investor” Yuri Millner—the Russian venture capitalist known best for being one of the earliest big-ticket investors in Facebook—as a “vote of confidence” in Flipkart's prospects. A total of $ 210 million was raised in the round, which also had existing investors Tiger Global, Naspers and Iconiq Capital participating.
At this figure, the current round of funding adds up to about two-thirds of what it cost the company to acquire Myntra.com. The investment round, though announced with a gap of a few days, is known to have been completed around the same time as the formalising of the acquisition. “Am keen to explore the new networks that would open up with this connection, and working with him is a real privilege”, he said, adding that the “money part is secondary”.
When asked about the timing of the funding, Mr. Bansal said that though the company was comfortable with its “cash levels”, it was looking at strengthening its platform and is actively looking to acquire companies particularly in the fields of e-commerce, technology and supply chain logistics. The company is looking at promising start-ups in these areas, as well as what Mr. Bansal termed as “adjacent areas” which include payments or reverse logistics. He said: “We are looking beyond just e-commerce into adjacent areas such as say payments or reverse logistics. Today, we have enough cash in the bank to last us for a long-long time, so we aren't under pressure. In fact, as a leader in the internet space, we now have the flexibility and scale.”
“I don't see the immediate need to go for an IPO as fund-availability is good,” Mr. Bansal reiterated when asked about profitability and his plans on an IPO. Mr. Bansal explained that companies earlier accelerated their going public because private money wasn't available. “Today, globally, the trend is to remain public. What we have done so far, pretty well, we have gotten investors who are not in a hurry and are thinking long-term with us...so we are also in no hurry.”
