Flipkart creates $150-million war chest for acquisitions

The country’s largest e-commerce company Flipkart has set aside about $150 million for acquisitions in the technology space, this year.

The company which retails mobile phones to clothing also plans to double the headcount of its tech team to about 2,000 during the year, Sachin Bansal, co-founder and chief executive officer of Flipkart, told Business Line .

The e-commerce company plans to either pick up a stake or acquire companies in the tech space to strengthen its backend. The investments in these companies could be as low as $2 million.

Bansal, who co-founded Flipkart along with his IIT batchmate Binny Bansal in 2007, said there are about 1,000 people in its technology team at present. This year, recruitment of key tech talent will be an important focus area for the company and “we intend to double the tech team over the next 12-18 months,” he said.

He pointed out that the company plans to hire people who are high on impact and ownership. “We have a diverse mix of people, from fresh graduates from colleges to those who have deep domain expertise, having worked in leading organisations around the world, including those in the Silicon Valley.”

Over the years, Flipkart has acquired a series of companies and its biggest so far has been Myntra.com, a retailer of fashion and casual lifestyle products. One of its first acquisitions was weread.com, a social book discovery tool, mime360, a digital content platform company, chakpak.com, a news site based on Hindi film industry, and letsbuy, an electronic product e-retailer.

Bansal said the company will continue to invest in new technology as well as invest in its financial model to grow rapidly. He said Flipkart could post profits sooner than expected but its current focus was on growing its business.

Ankit Nagori, Senior Vice-President, Marketplace Operations, said the company does not fix prices of the products sold in its marketplace and hence the issue of predatory pricing does not arise at all. “We do not decide on the prices of our products on our marketplace. That’s entirely the sellers’ decision,” Nagori said.

Flipkart’s focus is to help build the entrepreneurial ecosystem and generating wealth for the SME sector. This is extremely beneficial for developing employment in a populated country like India.

He said the company’s marketplace empowers micro, small and medium enterprises across the country as well as helps them to expand their business and connect with 30 million customers without having to invest in a showroom or marketing. These savings, in turn, help them pass on pricing benefits to customers.

Nagori also clarified that the company will continue to remain compliant with the laws of the land “and we ensure that our sellers work according to applicable laws as well. The government will continue to do its job and we will cooperate with authorities wherever required.”

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