Homegrown e-commerce company Flipkart has raised $3.6 billion in a new funding round, its first capital infusion from external investors since US retailing behemoth Walmart acquired it for $16 billion in 2018.
The fundraising is expected to give the Sachin and Binny Bansal-founded startup significant firepower to expand online shopping and take on well-capitalised rivals such as Amazon Inc, Reliance Industries and the Tata Group.
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), the Singapore government’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, Japan’s SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Flipkart’s largest shareholder Walmart led the round, with participation from existing backers like Qatar Investment Authority.
The company will be valued at over $37.6 billion post-money, up from $24.9 billion last year when it raised $1.2 billion in an internal round led by Walmart. Three years ago, Flipkart was valued at $22 billion.