Flipkart raises $3.6bn of fresh funding

Indian online retail Flipkart has raised another $3.6bn ahead of a more expected debut in the stock market.

This Walmart-backed company is saying that it will use the money for the expansion of its operations. It will further invest in grocery and fashion delivery and services. This latest round for fundraising has increased the value of its firm up to $37.6bn.

This new valuation is more than double the amount that the American retail chain paid for the majority stake in Flipkart in three years.

The chief of this online retail, Kalyan Krishnamurthy, said these new funds would support the expansion plan of the company. He says as they are serving their consumers, they will focus on the growth for the millions of small and medium Indian businesses.

He added, “We will continue to invest in new categories and leverage made-in-India technology to transform consumer experiences and develop a world-class supply chain.”

This new round of funding is getting support from the sovereign of Singapore wealth fund GIC, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Also, it includes SoftBank and Walmart.

The deal marked the return of SoftBank. It has sold its stake of around 20% of Flipkart to Walmart as part of the deal in 2018.

The other investors include the sovereign wealth funds from Qatar, Abu Dhabi, and Malaysia. This fundraising came up as the expectation of the Bangalore -based company to make its stock market debut this year.

Walmart paid $16 bn in 2018 for a 77% stake in Flipkart. It said that later it could take the company public within four years.

In September, Flipkart started preparing for an initial public offering outside of India. After the Walmart deal, the company has also added many items to its online store, which includes furniture, grocery, etc.

It has also increased its warehouse capacity with its competition with Amazon and the local rival Reliance industries. India is seeing huge growth in the online startups that are selling everything these days.

Many of the biggest digital startups of this country are already on their way to sell their shares on the stock market. Zomato is about to make its debut this year in the market. Also, Paytm is about to launch its initial public offering this year.

Credits: BBC