With competition in the Indian ecommerce space intensifying, Flipkart has taken a big step towards consolidating its numero uno position by securing an investment of $700 million. It is the first time the company has raised money this year, and this deal values it at a whopping $15 billion.
According to media reports, New York-based hedge fund Tiger Global and Flipkart’s existing investors, including Steadview Capital took part in the fundraising. Sachin and Binny Bansal, who started the company only eight years ago, hold an 8.5% stake each, and after this latest round, have become billionaires from their Flipkart holdings alone.
However, Flipkart declined to comment on the matter.
The war for stronger e-commerce presence is getting fierce now. According to reports, a week ago Amazon was readying a $5 billion investment in India, to make it its largest market outside America.
Earlier this year, Flipkart was negotiating with Tiger Global and Steadview Capital to raise giant capital to the tune of $1 billion. To deal with increasing competition from Snapdeal and Paytm, Flipkart is now paying dollar salaries to hire the best talent from Silicon Valley .
In December last year, Flipkart had secured $700 million at a valuation of about $11 billion, only six months after it had raised $1 billion, making 2014 a record year for the company.