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E-commerce major Flipkart is in the middle of raising $1 billion in fresh funds, according to people in the know. Retail giant Walmart has invested $600 million, confirmed the company.
Other internal stakeholders and a few external investors will put in the remaining $400 million, the sources added. Flipkart will use the money to expand its operations, strengthen its supply chain and bolster its tech capabilities.
The ongoing round values Flipkart at a premium of around 5-10 per cent from its previous valuation, said the source. Flipkart was last valued at around $33 billion, after accounting for PhonePe’s separation in 2022.
A spokesperson for Flipkart confirmed the Walmart commitment, but declined to comment on the broader fund-raising talks.
PhonePe infusion
Walmart’s $600-million funding in Flipkart comes after capital infusion from the Bentonville-based retailer in PhonePe for its funding as well as major tax pay-out to the Indian government to domicile the payments firm in India.
Walmart also facilitated a $750-million one-time pay-out for Flipkart employees earlier this year as part of the PhonePe’s recently concluded funding round as well as separation from the group.
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), the Singapore government’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, Japan’s SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Qatar Investment Authority are among Flipkart’s other existing investors.
Fresh fundraise
The talks of a fresh fundraise comes months after early investors Accel (US and India), Tiger Global, Franklin Templeton had sold Flipkart shares to Walmart. The transaction marked the end of an era, as Binny Bansal, co-founder of Flipkart, also sold his remaining stake.
In July, other investors such as Franklin Templeton, Oryx Group and Antara Capital also fully divested their minority holdings to Walmart, while Qatar Investment Authority had part-sold its stake to Walmart.
In 2018, Walmart had paid $16 billion for a 77 per cent stake in Flipkart and its holding has now increased to 80.5 per cent, per Tracxn data.
Over the last year or so, Flipkart has expanded in new categories such as travel (Cleartrip), epharmacy (Flipkart Health Plus), at-home services and others.
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