Flipkart Group raised $1.2 billion in fresh funds from majority owner Walmart Inc. and other existing investors as the online retail battle intensifies amid the pandemic.
The investment, led by Walmart, values Flipkart Group at $24.9 billion, according to a company statement on Tuesday. Money will come in two tranches over the remainder of the fiscal ending March.
This is the first such investment by Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart after it acquired the e-commerce firm for $16 billion nearly two years ago. It comes when billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Jio Platforms Ltd. raised $15 billion from a slew of investors, including Facebook Inc. Even Google is in advanced talks to plough $4 billion in the venture, Bloomberg reported, as investors want a piece of the nation's growing digital economy. Earlier this year, Flipkart's rival Amazon topped up its investment by $1 billion in India, its second-largest market.
"We're grateful for the strong backing of our shareholders as we continue to build our platform and serve the growing needs of Indian consumers during these challenging times," Kalyan Krishnamurthy, chief executive officer at Flipkart, said in a statement.
Krishnamurthy said Flipkart leads electronics and fashion category and is accelerating its share in other general merchandise categories and grocery.
"Flipkart continues to leverage its culture of innovation to accelerate growth and enable millions of customers, sellers, merchants and small businesses to prosper and be a part of India's digital transformation," Judith McKenna, president and chief executive officer at Walmart International, said.
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