Flipkart raises $3.6 billion fresh funds at $37.6 billion valuation – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Walmart-owned Flipkart Group has raised $3.6 billion in a fresh funding round led by investors such as GIC, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Walmart ahead of its proposed initial public offering (IPO) later this year.
Each of the investors has invested $600-800 million in the round, said sources, valuing the homegrown e-commerce giant at $37.6 billion. When US retailer Walmart bought a 77% stake in Flipkart for $16 billion in 2018, the Bengaluru-headquartered company was valued at $21-22 billion. Flipkart is aiming for a valuation of around $50 billion for its IPO.
“Most of the funds will be used in grocery and fashion play as supply chains will be strengthened,” a senior Flipkart executive told TOI after the announcement, which catapulted the e-commerce giant into the realm of the top five consumer companies in India (non-financial) by value, excluding IT majors and financial services.

Flipkart will also buy back employee stock options worth around $80 million. In an internal email to employees, which TOI has reviewed, Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy said, “As many of you know, it has always been our endeavour to provide our employees with an opportunity to liquidate their vested options regularly. This year, we are proud to announce a buyback of 5% of the past three years’ vested options.”
While the latest round marked the return of Japan’s Soft-Bank, which had sold its entire stake in Flipkart to Walmart in 2018 for $4 billion, it also witnessed participation from investors such as DisruptAD, Qatar Investment Authority, Khazanah Nasional Berhad, and marquee investors Tencent, Willoughby Capital, Antara Capital, Franklin Templeton and Tiger Global.
“SoftBank’s re-investment in Flipkart is driven by our experience with and conviction in the company’s management team to continue addressing the needs of the Indian consumer in the decades to come,” said Lydia Jett, partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers.
While the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of online shopping among Indian consumers, Flipkart’s strong focus on online grocery has been shaped by the moves of biggies such as Reliance Industries’ JioMart and the Tata Group with its acquisition of the country’s largest e-grocery player BigBasket.
With India’s e-grocery market expected to grow to $18 billion by 2024, according to data from consulting company RedSeer, food delivery majors Swiggy and Zomato, too, are set to bite off large chunks of the pie with their own grocery verticals.
“This investment by leading global investors reflects the promise of digital commerce in India and their belief in Flipkart’s capabilities to maximise this potential for all stakeholders. As we serve our consumers, we will focus on accelerating growth for millions of small and medium Indian businesses, including kiranas,” Krishnamurthy said in his mail.
Flipkart owns India’s largest fashion e-tailer Myntra and logistics major Ekart. The group is also a majority shareholder in PhonePe, one of the leading payments apps in India which was hived off as a separate unit in 2020 at a valuation of about $5 billion. “Flipkart is a great business whose growth and potential mirrors that of India as a whole — that’s why we invested in 2018 and why we continue to invest today,” said Judith McKenna, president & CEO at Walmart International.