The Singapore-based holding firm of Indian online retailer Flipkart had invested ₹ 4843.4 crore into two of its India entities, in a bid to take on its rival Amazon.
Flipkart Limited had put ₹4472.4 crore into the marketplace unit of Flipkart India, Another Singapore-based unit Flipkart Marketplace Private Limited had invested₹370.9 crore into Flipkart Internet Private Limited, which owns and operates an online shopping portal in India.
The funding is expected to help Flipkart build its war chest in the battle against Amazon.com Inc., which is rapidly gaining share in India’s online retail market.
The investment comes at a time when the company had raised about $4 billion last year in two funding rounds from investors including Chinese Internet giant Tencent, U.S.-based e-commerce firm eBay, software maker Microsoft and Japan’s SoftBank Group. Last August, SoftBank, led by CEO Masayoshi Son announced an investment in Flipkart through its $100 billion technology-focused fund Vision Fund. Flipkart, which had in excess of $4 billion of cash on the balance sheet after that round, is now penetrating deeper into the Indian market.
India's e-commerce sales are expected to grow at a 30% compound annual growth rate through FY 2027 and touch $200 billion of gross merchandise value, according to global financial services firm Morgan Stanley.
