Indian ecommerce giant Flipkart has raised a record breaking funding of at least $2.5 billion from SoftBank Vision Fund, making its rival Amazon a huge blow and claiming its dominance in the market.
The latest round of funding takes Flipkart’s cash reserves to more than $4 billion. Although, Flipkart didn’t disclose the amount, but said that the SoftBank investment comprises a mix of primary (investment in the company) and secondary capital (purchase of shares from existing shareholders).
The amount invested will be somewhere around $2.5 billion in Flipkart, 3 people from the inside told, upon the condition of anonymity. There have been reports about the SoftBank’s interest in investing in Indian ecommerce giant Flipkart, after the acquisition of Snapdeal by Flipkart didn’t work out.
“This is a monumental deal for Flipkart and India. Very few economies globally attract such overwhelming interest from top-tier investors. It is recognition of India’s unparalleled potential to become a leader in technology and e-commerce on a massive scale. SoftBank’s proven track record of partnering with transformative technology leaders has earned it the reputation of being a visionary investor,” Flipkart co-founders Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal said in a joint statement.
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The investment will likely make SoftBank the largest investor in Flipkart and reduce the influence of Tiger Global, whose representative Kalyan Krishnamurthy is Flipkart’s CEO.
Masayoshi’s Activity in India
“We want to support innovative companies that are clear winners in India because they are best positioned to leverage technology and help people lead better lives. As the pioneers in Indian e-commerce, Flipkart is doing that every day,” said Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp.
Other than Flipkart, SoftBank has seen some major investment that includes Indian Startups- Ola, OYO Rooms and Paytm.
With this huge investment, the global giant Amazon may get a blow in the Indian market with Flipkart having Tiger Global Management and now SoftBank behind its back.