Flipkart, India’s largest ecommerce marketplace, has acquired a minority stake in MapmyIndia (CE Info Systems Pvt Ltd), a provider of digital map data, GPS navigation, tracking, location-based apps and GIS solutions, the two companies announced on Thursday.
Flipkart’s strategy to transform supply chain through technology is bolstered by this business partnership to licence map data and location technologies from MapmyIndia. This will extend a new layer of capability to Flipkart’s existing supply chain and logistics operations, making customer experience timely and hassle-free.
With Flipkart’s investment, MapmyIndia’s early financial investors, Nexus Venture Partners and Lightbox Ventures, will exit the company. MapmyIndia will continue to independently serve all consumers and enterprise customers across all industries with its full range of products and solutions.
The objective of this partnership is to deploy location intelligence capabilities across Flipkart’s logistics network, enabling it to strengthen its first-mile pickup, and last mile delivery operations. In future, Flipkart is expected to introduce services such as better address verification, real-time shipment tracking, facility mapping and theft minimisation via Geo-fencing.
Binny Bansal, COO and co-founder, Flipkart, said, “We are taking another step toward transforming the supply chain ecosystem in India, making technology and information the driver of our supply chain and logistics solutions. The integration of comprehensive and accurate location data will allow us to deliver an even more personalised and delightful experience to our customers.”
Rakesh Verma, Managing Director and co-founder, MapmyIndia, said: “We have seen extremely strong demand for our map and location products and solutions from leading e-commerce players, all automotive OEMs and progressive government agencies, and we remain committed to helping all customers across industries benefit from our maps and location technologies.