Walmart’s Indian e-commerce store Flipkart raises $ 3.6 billion

Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart said on Monday it had raised $ 3.6 billion in fresh funds from global investors, including sovereign wealth funds, private equity and its parent company, Walmart.

The new round of funding was led by the Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Walmart. It also included investments from sovereign wealth funds like Qatar Investment Authority, Khazanah Nasional Berhad of Malaysia and DisruptAD, the venture capital arm of the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, ADQ.

Other backers included Chinese Tencent, Franklin Templeton, and Tiger Global.

“This investment from the world’s leading investors reflects the promise of digital commerce in India and their belief in the ability of Flipkart to maximize this potential for all stakeholders,” Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO of Flipkart, said in a statement.

He said the company will focus on growing millions of Indian small and medium businesses, including small family grocery stores known as kiranas, and plans to continue investing in new categories and local technologies.

Japan-based SoftBank previously sold its stake in Flipkart to Walmart in 2018 and its comeback comes at a time when reports suggest the Indian company is exploring potential listing options. Flipkart said it now has a valuation of $ 37.6 billion.

SoftBank has supported other Indian tech start-ups, such as digital payment company Paytm, budget hotel room start-up Oyo, and ride-sharing company Ola.

“SoftBank’s reinvestment in Flipkart is driven by our experience and belief in the company’s leadership team to continue to meet the needs of the Indian consumer in the decades to come,” said Lydia Jett, Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, in a press release. .

Most retail shopping in India takes place in physical stores, but online commerce the potential remains huge: India has one of the fastest growing and largest internet populations in the world.

In recent years, a combination of reforms, a push towards digitization and last year’s coronavirus pandemic – and subsequent national and regional lockdowns – have moved some of the transactions online.

In the last three months of 2020, India’s e-commerce industry grew 36% year-on-year in volume and 30% year-on-year in value, according to a joint report from Unicommerce and Kearney.

The personal care, beauty and wellness category grew 95% from the previous year, while the fast moving consumer goods and health care rose 46%. Most of the incremental growth is due to a sharp increase in the volume and value of e-commerce in India’s Tier 2 and 3 cities, according to the report.

Flipkart’s competitors include US e-commerce giant Amazon, which has invested billions of dollars in the Indian market, as well as national names such as JioMart, Reliance Industries’ online grocery delivery app.

For its part, the Indian government reportedly proposed new draft e-commerce rules in June that should impact Flipkart and Amazon India.