Flipkart raises $1.4 billion from blue chip cos

Flipkart Group, India’s leading ecommerce marketplace, on Monday formally closed its largest funding round in Indian Internet history by raising $1.4 billion from Tencent Holdings, eBay and Microsoft.

Besides buying the entire stake in eBay India business in an all cash deal, Flipkart will be using the largest fund in its 10-year history to boost its fight against arch-rival Amazon. Till date, Flipkart has raised $4.65 billion in 11 rounds.

In a statement issued to DH, Flipkart founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal said it is a landmark deal for Flipkart and for India as it endorses the company’s tech prowess, innovative mindset and the potential to disrupt traditional markets.

“Fantastic fusion of synergies!Tencent @eBay @Microsoft & @Flipkart! Giant leap for Indian ecommerce,” Sachin tweeted.

The 11th round of funding, at a post-transaction valuation of $11.6 billion, is lower than its peak valuation of $15 billion, when it raised $550 million in 2015 from some of its earlier investors.

Flipkart’s investors include GIC, DST Global, Tiger Global Management, Naspers, Accel Partners, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Baillie Gifford and Steadview Capital.

Flipkart’s new funding also finds Chinese Internet company Tencent as a strategic investor, bringing its experience in linking social networking and e-commerce. Tencent President Martin Lau said, “We look forward to helping Flipkart to deliver compelling experiences to users throughout India, and to contribute to the development of the internet ecosystem.”

Launched in October 2007, Flipkart Group includes group companies Flipkart, Myntra, Jabong and PhonePe. According to analysts, the company offers over 80 million products across 80+ categories with peak Rs 50 billion ($735 million) GMV for month of October.