Business
Firm raises $1 billion in fresh capital, in one of the largest funding rounds in ecommerce space globally
Updated : Mar 19, 2018, 05:04 AM IST
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5%--- share of revenues from mobile five months back
50%--that share today
22 million registered users
5 million shipments a month it handles.
9% share of the India's Rs 17,000 cr e-retailing market
Flipkart, which on Tuesday announced one of the largest fund-raising in ecommerce globally with a $1 billion deal, is dreaming big.
The company, now expected to be valued at $5 billion, is aspiring to become first $100 billion Indian company.
"There are very few internet companies in the world which are worth $100 billion. There are three in the US and one in China. I believe that such a company can be produced from India and we want to be that company. We want to see Indian internet companies prosper," said Sachin Bansal, co-founder, Flipkart.
"Whether it takes five years or 10 or 15, we want to do whatever possible to achieve this," he said.
The company, however, has no immediate plans to go public.
"We are still at a stage where we are figuring out stuff about our business. We have not settled on one particular business model that can be taken public," said Binny Bansal, who co-founded Flipkart with Sachin in 2007.
For instance, five months ago, Flipkart's revenues from mobile accounted for only 5% while today it stands at 50%.
The $1 billion deal announced on Tuesday is the single largest for an internet company from India.
Existing investors Tiger Global Management and Naspers, and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC and Russian billionaire Yuri Milner's DST Global led the infusion.
The funds will be used to make long-term strategic investments in India which may include acquisition "in case any opportunity is out there".
"This is a great milestone not only for Flipkart but for all internet companies. This is not a small amount. There are very few internet companies which have been able to raise that kind of money even publicly. So yes, we are proud of it," said Bansal.
The company said it would utilise the funds to build capability and supply chain in technology.
"These funds help us think long term. There are many opportunities out there which will change the ecosystem in India," said Sachin adding that scope in segments like payments, seller ecosystem is huge.
"This funding will let us make big bets on changing the structure of the ecommerce ecosystem in India," Sachin Bansal said.
Flipkart plans to develop its infrastructure for mobile-based e-commerce, add more items to its portal and acquire companies in related areas, he said.
He said there is a change in the mindsets of private investors compared to what it was a few years ago. Citing examples of Uber, Alibaba, Binny Bansal said that today investors have long-term appetite and do not exit easily.
For Flipkart, the competition is also getting hot. Amazon. Snapdeal and Walmart all want a share of the $13 billion ecommerce market in India. Reliance Retail, India's largest retailer by revenues, is also expected to significantly increase its online presence.